The Time Lady
by AroVolturi999
Summary: Alternative SL to "Nine to Midnight". He existed 3,000 years ago and she always felt out of place within the 21st century. However, not even time can keep them from meeting. (Please excuse any historical inaccuracies that may be present within this story.) Rated M for sexual content and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: The Stranger**

**_1260 BC_**

The sky of deep, dark blue was a blanket of glistening stars, positively void of any artificial light that would disturb such natural beauty. With the night came the mysterious atmosphere that some used to harness a disguise, to conceal themselves for whatever reason they may have. It was the darkness that made it easier for the creatures of the night to avoid what the sun revealed them to be.

It has been about 20 years since Aro of Neapoli, Athens was changed into a Vampire and during that time he really didn't give much stock to sharing his immortal life with another. He was much too preoccupied with getting accustomed to his rebirth, perfecting his hunting techniques and avoiding run ins with the Romanians as per Caius' warnings.

The Romanians ruled their world with an iron fist and Aro would like nothing more than to see plans to gain supremacy over his kind to come to fruition as soon as possible. So his thoughts rarely lingered on that of a romantic nature.

His coven mates, Marcus and Caius had their own attachments with which an outsider would perceive him as being the odd one out, the fifth wheel as one would put it. Yes, at times he felt somewhat left out amongst the deliriously happy couples but at the end of the day, he wasn't bothered enough to do much about it. Aro knew that one day he would be lonely enough to seek out his own mate but for now he was content with being the emotional hermit.

Or so he had thought.

He was the first to experience it, the most delectable scent of human blood he had ever experienced in all his time on this Earth. He was wandering a dirt road with his Coven, hunting for their next meal but so far there didn't seem to be any humans around for miles. His brothers and their mates were the next to notice and they all hissed with thirst as the owner of such an appetizing smell came in closer to them. Aro growled at the fellow members of his Coven, warning them that he would be the one to have the honour of feeding from this unfortunate individual.

Caius was of course the first to protest but Aro stared him down, his eyes darkening as the human drew closer to them. Picking up on the sound of rapid heart beat, signalling that this person was in a hurry.

The footfalls were reaching his ears long before the human would come into view and even then, being a Vampire, he could see his prey from quite a long distance. It was why he took his sweet time in turning around, humans moved like slugs compared to his speed.

It was then the human caught sight of him and his coven and called out to them, a young female voice in shrill volume designed to capture his attention.

Foolish girl, she didn't have to shout, he thought, his thirst making him irritable.

He faced the human the female, his superior eyesight capturing a vision of a young woman who, Aro noticed, wasn't like any other human female he had encountered before.

She was dressed rather strangely. He had never seen clothing so fitted before, so immodest in style. Not even human slave women designed for sexual gratification would be dressed in such disgraceful garments that would have earned a firm beating for indecent exposure. The hem of her dark skirt sat just above her knees, her legs were encased in odd, darker, see through mesh and her feet were adorned with unusual black shoes that didn't look like it would provide sufficient protection against the elements.

The upper half of her body was worse, her arms were exposed and her tunic - if you could call it that - was so tightly fitted to her that he could practically see how her breasts would look without such a poor excuse for covering. It was strangely patterned too, very thin strips running vertically down her body that no tailor that he had seen could possibly achieve.

It was then his darkened-with-thirst gaze rested upon her face and all his misgivings about her were thrown out the window. Her lips were so red, plump and inviting that he had to restrain himself with great difficulty from kissing her. Her eyes were big and dark brown and reminded him of the wide eyed gaze of a Doe. Her skin was of a light, honey tan and her hair was long and cascaded down her back in a waterfall of onyx.

She was speaking but Aro couldn't understand a word she was saying. Her dialogue and accent were nothing that he had ever heard before but he recognised from the tone of her voice that she was frantic. He could somehow tell she was usually soft spoken but her panicked pitch seemed raspy, like an old instrument that was out of tune due to lack of use. She was waving her hands impatiently, making wild gestures that got him and his coven frowning in wonder.

Who was this strange little girl?

Caius murmured something to Aro, basically asking him what he was waiting for. The girl had willingly come to him and was obviously all on her own - not that it would have been a worry for him if she wasn't. What else did he need for her to do? Cut herself open for him?

However, Aro's curiousity for this girl overrode his thirst. He paid close attention to her, trying to decipher the meaning behind her alien words. She looked up at him imploringly, seeing as he was the only one paying attention to her. When she was met with his blank stare, it was then she then frowned in frustration and shook her head. Clearly disappointed in his lack of reaction to her pleas.

If only the girl knew he wasn't being unhelpful on purpose.

"I'm sorry, little girl but I don't understand you." he said to her before she turned to walk away. For a inexplicable reason, he wanted to help the little human. He didn't want her to go away. He felt drawn to her.

The girl suddenly perked upon hearing him speak and a look that was hopefully comprehension dawned upon her exotic features. But despite this realisation, she still looked rather upset, bowing her head down helplessly. Her eyes began to shine with tears and something ached disturbingly within Aro's chest at the sight.

"Please do not cry!" he implored of her, holding out his hand to the girl, wriggling his fingers encouragingly for her to take hold. With one touch, he would be able to read every thought this girl ever had thus breaking down their obvious communication barrier. It was his gift, to read the minds of those he came into physical contact with. At first he thought it a curse but he learned quickly that he could harness such to his advantage. Even as a human, he had a sense of knowing what a person was about simply by touching them. It was more a feeling then visual though but that of course was amplified the moment he woke up from his change.

She sniffed and glanced down at his hand, frowning once more before taking it. He in turn bent his head over their clasped hands, she winced from his comparatively icy touch but he was far too used to the varying temperatures of their bodies. To him she was warm against his hardened skin, a comforting heat that lulled him into a sense of addictive comfort.

It was however Aro's turn to frown. He could not see nor 'feel' a thing. Either she didn't have a single thought in her head or his power didn't work on her.

If it were anyone else, this would have angered him. He never had to live without his gift before and although at times it was frustrating to absorb a stranger's mundane thoughts, it still gave him a sense of power. With this girl, she remained as mysterious as she was before and instead of killing her for the insult, his grip on her hand tightened. He felt compelled to keep her instead.

Keep her in every sense of the word.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yes, I think I may need to explain myself here! As mentioned in my summary, to those of you who are reading "Nine to Midnight", this was originally going to be the SL for that story. However due to historical inaccuracies and what not that is going to be inevitably present in this piece, I was afraid to use it. But I'm going to force myself to rise above it for the sake of entertainment.**

**For any hardcore historians out there, I apologise in advance!**

**For those of you who are content to simply enjoy the ride, bless your kind hearts!**

**All mistakes are mine. I blame it on my enthusiasm. Please note that I am NOT abandoning the completion of "Nine to Midnight". I simply want to get this down before I forget about it :)**

**Credit to the creators of "Doctor Who" and "Back to the Future". I am not making any money out of this etc. Simply borrowing!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: Expanding One's Horizons<p>

**22nd of December, 2014**  
><strong>11:51pm<strong>

NEO Technologies specialized in all sorts of products, ranging from entertainment to business. It's wide variety of choices made it one of the most popular electronic brands in the market and they were always looking to expand even further. The innovation was state of the art and whenever they released something new to their customers, their publicity would rival that of Apple whenever they came out with a new iPhone.

Julie Lawson was a recent NEO Tech convert and it wasn't exactly because she was working for them (although it did help quite a bit!), it was because she was fortunate enough to personally know the man behind such genius. At first she was just another employee of his but as soon as he noticed how enthusiastic she got about his inventions (she was a hi-tech geek as well as a sci-fi), their bond went beyond that of a Boss and his little worker. They became best friends soon after Julie's father passed away and like family as soon as Julie moved into his mansion. She never met anyone more interesting and supportive as Curtis Johnstone.

It was nine to midnight during the Christmas holidays that all employees of NEO Tech were obliged to take. Everyone with the exception of Julie. Now Curtis was needless to say a very wealthy man. He had to be to own the biggest mansion in Norwood and the CEO of a multimillion dollar company. Everything about him screamed expensive and Julie, despite being let into his world, still felt like an outsider. He was handsome, intelligent and well liked within the most influential social circles... but he was also, to a certain degree, anti-social. Before he and Julie became friends, he always confined himself to his office, rarely speaking to anyone besides making formal announcements over the paging system. It was a wonder their limited interaction ever resulted in them becoming so close.

Tonight Curtis requested for Julie to join him at NEO Tech for 'the testing of a new product' that, unlike his other inventions, would be barred from the public. He stressed how it had to held in the utmost confidence and Julie was to never breathe a word about this to anyone. Seeing as Julie's own social life was pretty close to non-existent, the promise was going to be easily kept.

The vast parking lot of NEO Tech was completely empty save for two vehicles that were parked smack bang in the middle. One was a black Nissan Navara Dual Cab while the other was a white Toyota RAV4. Julie briefly wondered as she was walking through the gates why two such different cars were here. Curtis owned quite a collection of luxury cars and highly doubted that he would even be seen with such common looking vehicles - although Julie would give her right arm to own at least one of them.

Her father owned a Nissan Navara Dual Cab until he died while driving it. The vehicle was written off and the payout was just about enough to pay for his funeral. Her heart contracted painfully at the memory before she did her best to push it from her mind. She didn't want to start crying again. Curtis would try to comfort her and although she appreciated his efforts, it always made her feel guilty at the same time. The last time he caught her crying over her father's death, he gave her a raise at work and tried to buy her a car. She was already getting enough dirty looks at work for the favouritism, she didn't need them to think she was taking advantage of it. Even when she moved into his mansion at his insistence, she in turn made him allow her to pay rent.

It was the least she could do for the inconvenience, although Curtis never made her feel like she was such.

She avoided going to admire the Dual Cab and instead focused on looking at the RAV4. Incidentally the windows on both vehicles were heavily tinted so she couldn't see the interior but never the less her heart ached to touch it, it was a very pretty looking car and she could easily picture herself driving one. The girl circled it slowly, if she had to estimate the year of make, she would think it was the definitely between 2000-2005. For it's age it looked pretty pristine in condition and wondered if the owner ever drove it at all.

"Like what you see, sweetheart?"

Julie spun around to see Curtis standing off to the side, a few meters away with a amused smile upon his godlike face. He really was too good looking to be human and Julie sometimes wondered if he ever got any work done. His complexion was pale and free of imperfections, his eyes were a sort of golden light brown that seemed far too peculiar to be natural and his hair was perfectly styled to suit the modern male fashion trend. Although somewhat wild, it was softly spiked and elevated to look like it was wafting gently in the breeze. He always looked like he were posing for nature it's self.

"Is it that obvious?" Julie tried to sound casual but she couldn't keep the note of envy out of her voice. "I would love a car like this." She raised a hand to touch the bonnet but then retracted her fingers from brushing over the smooth surface, thinking better of it. "Who else is here?"

"Just us."

"But these cars-?"

"Those are mine."

Julie furrowed her brow, "When did you get these?"

"Oh... yonks ago." Curtis replied with a soft laugh that was like jazzed out clarinet. "I keep them in a hidden part of one of the Warehouses, under lock and key. You know I am not so snobby as to not admire the more, so called 'common' cars in the market."

"So, what are these cars for?"

Curtis approached her with slow, meaningful steps, "Let me answer that question by imposing another; What is your favourite movie and TV show?"

Julie's mouth twitched into a smile, Curtis had known her long enough to already accurately predict her answer. Nevertheless, she may as well play his game, "'Back to the Future' and 'Doctor Who'."

"Ah ha!" he barked happily, making her jump, "Precisely. And what are those shows based on?"

"Time travel."

"There you go." he nodded and then gestured to both the Dual Cab and the RAV4, "Forget the DeLorean and the blue Box. The RAV4 and the Dual Cab will have their go now."

Julie stared at Curtis. Was he out of his ever loving mind? "You don't mean-"

"Oh yes I do!" and at that he went to the driver's side of the RAV4, opened the door and revealed the interior. It was alive with flashes of light and glittering glows coming from the vast array of wires, and tubes that all but taken over the back passenger seats leaving very little room for much else. In the front section of the vehicle, on the passenger side, there was a 14inch touch screen monitor with the 'NEO Technologies' logo proudly displayed on a plain, black background with a keyboard installed resting horizontally on a metal frame where the glove compartment should be. Julie's wide, brown eyes took a moment or two to soak all this up in shocked awe before looking up at Curtis incredulously. He in turned looked back at her with an expression of someone who was quite proud of himself.

"You didn't."

"Oh yes, I did!"

"It's like you did a real life mash up of the TARDIS and the DeLorean!" she took an sharp intake of breath, "Can it fly too?"

"Oh, don't be absurd!" he waved his hand impatiently before standing aside to let her climb in, jerking his head towards the driver's seat to emphasize this intention. "The seats are fully adjustable. You can't use your 5ft tall frame as a excuse for not trying it out."

Julie blinked, she wasn't expected to actually drive this... was she?! Nevertheless she hitched up her skirt and climbed inside, while pumping up her seat so she could see comfortably over the dashboard, she looked up at Curtis with a frown, "Did I really have to wear my uniform for this?"

"Now, now Julie. When you are on company property, I would like for you to dress professionally. Just because it's after hours it doesn't give as an excuse to slack off." he smoothed his hands over the front of his own business suit to make a point that not even he would allow himself to go out improperly attired.

"I'm just saying that you could allow your female staff to wear pants suits. We would still look professional-"

"Not now, Julie. Not now." Curtis raised a hand to halt her protest before handing her the keys. She took it hesitantly before going to put it into the ignition, however Curtis grabbed her wrist firmly to stop her from sliding the key into the lock, "Just put those in your pocket for now."

Julie rose a brow, "I don't have any pockets. If you would allow me to wear pants-"

"Then put it in your brassiere." Curtis then turned his head away to safe her modesty, once Julie had put them away in the aforementioned zone of her person, that was when Curtis looked at her and continued. "Now, I'm going to show you how this works. It's basically the same as the Time Machine in 'Back to the Future' but of course, the computer over there oversees all functions apart from the driving. The steering wheel still has free rein over that. Anyway, all you have to do is touch the screen of the monitor to cancel out the screen saver, input the time, date and place you would like to go and-"

"Drive up to 88 miles per hour?" Julie said with a silly grin, she practically knew the BTTF movies off by heart and couldn't resist the opportunity to quote it. However, her humour was met with a blank stare from Curtis.

"We're not in America, Julie. We're Australian so it will not be miles per hour we will be working with but kilometers per hour. More to the point, the speed which would allow displacement to access to the 4th dimension is 144 kilometers per hour."

Julie took a moment to mentally make conversions before turning to her Boss, "Wait a minute, that's almost 90 miles per hour! We have to go slightly faster than what they imply in the movies?"

"Yes, because those are just movies."

"So, the use of plutonium will not be necessary?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh goodo."

"We're using Uranium."

Julie opened her mouth to make a statement that would have used an extreme amount of exclamation points in writing but was interrupted when Curtis shut the car door in her face, jogged around to the other side of the vehicle and got into the passenger seat beside her. He touched the screen, thus cancelling the screen saver that displayed his company logo and began tapping randomly upon the screen, bringing up program that had a form with many fields to fill in. She watched in silence for a moment or two before she simply had to say something.

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"No. Just you and me."

"And you did this all on your own."

"Yep."

"Why? How? I don't understand."

"Julie, my talent for strategy stretches way beyond that from a business point of view. I like to expand my horizons and apparently this ability of mine goes far beyond what I expected. I can actually use this to decipher the mysteries of mankind. Things that were until yesterday mere science fiction and fantasy."

"I find that a bit rich coming from the likes of you." Julie offered with a small smile, "Mr Vampire."

Curtis chuckled softly to himself, "Yes, well... when you have as much time as I do. You tend to make the most of it."

"I'm still sorry I didn't just simply mind my own business. I should have just left things alone instead of putting two and two together. And now you're in trouble!" Julie reached out a hand and took hold of Curtis' icy cold one in her own. She had know a couple of months into her employment with NEO Tech that Curtis wasn't exactly human. If he was simply anti-social, she would have left things alone but it was other things that made her notice and wonder. Norwood rarely saw the sun and when it did make an appearance, Curtis didn't even show up to work. Once they had a Office party and although her Superior stayed around to mingle so to speak, he didn't eat or drink a thing at the buffet table, even when Julie was dying for him to try the mars bar slice she had made and bought in specially for the event. For her 21st birthday, Curtis took her out to her favourite restaurant and didn't order a thing, merely asking for a glass of water and not touching it. Also his flawless appearance brought on quite a lot of suspicion and soon the truth was out after she was almost killed by another, passing Vampire. Curtis had saved her life.

Curtis squeezed her hand back affectionately before beginning to type in random coordinates into the time, date and place fields of the form. "I wonder..." he whispered to himself, before looking back at Julie. "Aren't you going to ask me why there is a Dual Cab here?"

The girl looked past Curtis and glanced at the said vehicle parked right beside them. "Oh yeah. Why?"

"I made two versions. A Master Time Machine and a Slave Time Machine. The Dual Cab is the Master version while the one were sitting in now is the Slave. The Slave can operate perfectly on it's own but it's features are obsolete compared to the Master. The Slave has a tracking function that the Master can zero in on. Even the Slave is in a different time period, the Master will know precisely where it is from it's last point in displacement. If the Slave has moved away from the area it arrived in, then the Master can still track it from the point it arrived to where it went, but the Master will have to go to said time period before it can do that. Furthermore if the Master and the Slave are both in motion with the Master having the coordinates programmed within it, the Slave will automatically download the information via wifi connection and follow, overriding any previously programmed settings. If an unauthorised user is trying to operate the Slave, the Master can immobilize it via a NEO Tech satellite that has been upgraded with the software that can send out signals universally, to any time period as long as the Master remains in this point in time. Your information has already been entered into the system as a trusted source as well as mine. Also... not that it's relevant, the Master is a manual transmission and the Slave is a automatic."

Julie's brain began to hurt as she tried to understand it all. It was a monstrous task to say the least. Infact she visibly winced and raised a hand to her head. "So... what's going to happen now? Are you going to use these Time Machines to escape-"

Curtis all but leapt out of the RAV4 and shut the door behind him. His golden irises locked upon the gates that Julie had entered through. He then flitted out onto the road and looked both ways. When checking to his left, it was then he turned to Julie and began waving at her frantically. When she went to exit the RAV4, he screamed at her to stay inside but continued to make gestures like he wanted her to go.

Oh my God. He wanted her to drive away? What about him?!

She dug into her bra and fumbled for the keys, she shakily began began to insert into the ignition and the car roared to life. She hastily put on her seat belt and drove the car towards Curtis. His shouts were becoming more urgent and she braked at the drive way, opening the door to talk to him, "What's going on?!"

"The Volturi! They have found me!" he shrieked before coming over and slamming the door in her face once more. "Just drive! Drive away now! Go!" And at that he flitted away, disappearing back into the parking lot.

Julie wasn't sure where to drive but she didn't stop to ask questions as a Black BMW appeared in the distance and was hurtling towards her. She in turn began to panic, stamped upon the accelerator and sped down the street up onto the almost diserted highway. Again, she had no idea where to go and just drove, concentrating on getting away. However the driver of BMW was relentless and continued to pursue her like a Bat out of Hell. Turning corners was a nightmare because she had to slow down a fraction and each time, the BMW got a bit too close for comfort. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she was terrified of crashing into something. She had never drove this fast in her entire life!

"Leave me alone!" she cried out, knowing her pursuer couldn't hear her pleas anyway as she rounded another corner. The BMW was now only mere meters away but thankfully there was now enough road out infront of her to speed away from him. "Let's see if those Volturi bitches can do 160!" and at that she absolutely floored it, the RAV for automatically switching to it's highest gear available and taking the girl up to a velocity that would have given her a heart attack if she wasn't the one who was causing it.

Sparks began to gather at the nose of the RAV4 and an odd sense of deja vu took her over for that split second before a bright light manifested around her person and she was no more in 2014.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, seeing as I don't know a thing about the language of Ancient Greece, I am settling for modern Greek courtesy of Google translator. I apologise once more for any inaccuracies in advance! ^_^

Chapter 2: Back In Time

**Equivalent to 1st, August, 1260BC**

**11:51pm**

As soon as the light had cleared, Julie went from flooring it to a screeching halt upon a dirt road in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. However it would seem that as soon as she put on the brakes, everything within the RAV4 followed suit. The computer, the circuitry and the headlights immediately died, bathing her in darkness and her already erratic heart slammed more painfully against her ribcage.

"No!" she gasped, turning the key in the ignition repeatedly and slapping her hand upon the dashboard. "Don't do this to me! Wake up!" She tapped her fingers upon the blank computer screen frantically, worked the pedals and tried the ignition once more, but to no avail, "No! I want to go home! Take me home!" After much deliberation, she finally stepped out out of the vehicle and took in her new surroundings apprehensively. The BMW that had been chasing her was gone, so where the roads and any noticeable forms of civilization. She looked up into the sky and even the moon and the stars seemed far more brighter than she remembered them to be. It was then it dawned upon her, she had been driving a Time Machine. A Time Machine that teleported to whichever time it was programmed to go to. She then started to remember that Curtis had entered coordinates into the computer back in the parking lot and she mentally scolded herself for not paying that close enough attention.

Where and when had Curtis sent to?

She surveyed her surroundings once more and found that she was surrounded by a thick forest, no doubt full of all sorts of creatures that could range from harmless to completely deadly. Julie then became aware that it was rather hot tonight and she used her hand to fan herself. The pantyhose she wore was already feeling sticky and uncomfortable as well as the fitted, pinstripped shirt that was part of her uniform.

The girl ducked back into the car, released the hand brake and began to push the car with all her might, directing it off the road and into a particularly leafy canopy that would provide sufficient covering from the heat and well as prying eyes. She was faintly aware that she was imitating the actions of 'Back to the Future''s Marty McFly as soon as he discovered he couldn't operate the DeLorean and had to hide it behind a billboard. Deja vu assaulted her senses again. Besides which, once she found out where and when she was, she didn't want to risk having her car - Curtis' Time Machine stolen.

By the by, was Curtis alright?

She contemplated this as she began to walk in a random direction, choosing to go right and down the road, following in it hopes of meeting up with someone who could help her. She continued to fan herself, fatigue beginning to nag at her frayed nerves. Did Curtis get away from the Volturi in time? Will he come to get her?

Julie stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at the covered up RAV4 hopefully before common sense came to rain on her parade. Nothing seemed operational in the car so she highly doubted the tracking device in it would be either and at that she sniffed sadly. Even if Curtis was okay, he wouldn't be able to find her. But then again he was the one who entered the coordinates so maybe he would be able to find the Slave Time Machine anyway?

She stood on the spot, waiting for the Master Time Machine to appear. According to what Curtis said, the Master could locate the Slave from the last point of displacement so technically he should arrive at any moment to save her. Her heart once again soared hopefully and she waited.

And waited and waited.

With every second that ticked by, she became increasingly depressed. He wasn't coming... so that means...

"No!" she rasped, her legs finally giving out beneath her and she collapsed onto the ground. The Volturi must have caught up with him and killed her Boss. Her best friend.

Her only friend.

Before she could let a single tear fall for her Vampire companion, she noticed movement within her peripheral vision and she looked up. There were figures moving in the distance away from her and she sat up for a second before scrambling to her feet. "Wait!"

She stumbled after them, running as fast as her legs could carry her. It brought about flashbacks to PE classes back at High School and how terrible she did in them. She was always the slowest, the most awkward and uncoordinated one out of her classmates and she copped alot of flack for it. No matter how hard she tried to fit in, she always seemed to be out of place. Socially out of sync.

Out of time.

"Please stop!" she cried out, her voice hoarse but it didn't seem to stop them. It was like they either couldn't hear her or were deliberately ignoring her. "Please! Wait! Hey!"

As she came closer to them, shouting out at them imploringly, it was then she caught the attention of one of the group who stopped and turned towards her. She made a beeline for him and as this person came into view, it was then sense of familiarity became apparently.

This person was pale too, like Curtis. He was a Vampire!

Now, normally if a person knew about the existence of Vampires but didn't know someone as kind and gentle as Curtis, one would have run away. However Julie was under the impression that when it came to social interaction, Vampires were like her Boss and not the scary beings that traditional portrayals made them out to be. Bottomline, instead of being scared, she was confident and even relieved to find another Vampire.

Like Curtis, this Vampire was also breathtakingly gorgeous. The same flawless skin and Godlike features. Of course they didn't look alike. This one had long, luxurious dark, shiney hair that looked soft to touch. His eyes were not gold but bright red and while Curtis gave the impression of being a modern, male model, this male Vampire looked more like a classically handsome Greek statue. His clothing however gave er the hint that she was definitely not within her time period anymore. Either that or he and his friends were off to some sort of ancient costume party. He wore long robes of a light colour that Julie couldn't quite identify in the dark. It was like something taken out of a Bible story. Very simple and modest. She was briefly made aware that compared to his clothing, she was naked.

"Excuse me," Julie croaked as soon as she caught up with him, struggling to catch her breath while speaking, "I know this may sound like a strange question but could you tell me where I am? The time and date would also be helpful too please!"

The Vampire stared at her, bewilderment painfully apparent upon his irritatingly perfect face. His companions who looked to be Vampires as well, turned to look at her. The puzzled looks present upon their own beautiful faces. A blonde male whispered something to the dark haired male that Julie was directing her question at and it was then she noticed it.

The dark haired male's eyes had darkened significantly and she remembered back to when she had seen the same look in the eyes of Curtis. Whenever he got particularly thirsty, his eyes would darken too. He also made a point to tell her that her blood was particularly inviting and that was then she began to become unsure of her eagerness to talk to these supernaturally lovely strangers. Maybe they weren't as disciplined as Curtis was.

However she shook her head, frowning when they continued to stare at her as if she was the most ludicrous person they had ever met and it was then she went to turn away.

"Λυπάμαι κοριτσάκι, αλλά εγώ δεν καταλαβαίνετε." (I'm sorry, little girl but I don't understand you)

Julie blinked, staring at the Vampire with the same look of bewilderment that he had greeted her with and then it hit her like slippery fish. He couldn't speak English!

She would have laughed if the situation wasn't as dire as it was now. Instead she looked down at the ground, if these were natives of wherever she was, the chances of finding someone who could speak her language were dangerously slim. Her sinuses began to sting and her eyes pricked with tears. What was she to do now? She was lost, scared, alone... and so very tired. To top it all off she was getting a pounding headache that hurt like a knife shoved into her brain.

"παρακαλώ μην κλαις!" (Please do not cry!) The dark haired one held out his hand to her and through her tears, she stared down at it. Was this supposed to be a gesture of comfort? He was a complete stranger, didn't understand a word she was saying and yet he seemed concerned for her. He wriggled his fingers coaxingly and when she finally relented and took his hand (what did she have to lose anyway?), he held it close to him and bent his head as if contemplating their clasped hands.

This carried on for a few moments and then he looked to her, looking far more in awe than he had been before. What was he thinking about?

She tried to take her hand away but he tugged it back. Shaking his head. When she went to do it again, it was then his face suddenly broke out into a charming smile and he immediately relinquished. Despite her anxiety, she felt her face grow hot. Again, she was lost, alone, scared and very tired... how did she find the energy to also be bashful?!

It was then the Vampire was beckoned back to his group of companions. The male blonde that had muttered to him before was looking increasingly frustrated, a female Vampire that had dark hair like the male Vampire was looking up at him curiously. The tall, brunette male beside her kept gesturing to Julie while a blonde female who stood beside the blonde male was tugging at his arm imploringly. Julie remained on the sidelines, standing there helplessly and not having a clue what was going on. If she had to guess, it was as if the Vampires companions were discussing what they should do with her.

When she thought she ought to turn away and try to find someone else who could help her, it was then the Greek statue-like Vampire separated himself from the group and drifted towards her side. As soon as that happened, his companions flitted off leaving the pair of them alone. She looked up at him, not having the faintest idea why he chose to stay behind with her. They couldn't understand each other and from the still present, darkened gaze he sported, she made him thirsty.

Oh wait.

Julie began to back away but the Vampire matched her pace. She didn't feel like being his meal tonight and had to get out of here.

But how could she outrun a Vampire? Curtis was extremely fast, so fast that he would be a light blur when he moved without restraint.

"No, it's okay. You can go now." she whispered, waving her hand to 'shoo' him away. She turned and walked quickly in the opposite direction and when she turned her head to check, he was once again matching her movements. She stopped. He stopped. She moved. He moved.

This was getting ridiculous. But at least he didn't seem all that interested in feeding from her after all. Infact he looked perfectly content in just being in her company.

"Are you following me?" she accused, stopping once more, turning around to face him and placing her hands on her hips. He simply stared at her with that same, charming smile he had flashed her before. "Look. Go home! You don't have to stay with me. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"είσαι δικός μου. Πρέπει να σας προστατεύσει." (You are mine. I must protect you.) he said and Julie frowned, shaking her head to show him she really didn't have a clue what he was going on about. But in turn, he didn't know that she was basically telling him to get lost. He was looking her up and down, something like possessiveness mixed with concern was expressed in his eyes, "κοιτάς γυμνή. κάποιος θα προσπαθήσει να σας βιάσει." (You look naked. Someone will try to rape you.)

"Fine! If you want to come with me, I'm afraid I'm going to be boring company. And it's not just because the language barrier that will render any conversation between us mute. Even if you could understand me, I doubt you would find me interesting at all." she shrugged, turned back around and continued to walk. Her face suddenly taking on a slightly sour edge, "No man as handsome as you ever finds someone like me worth their time."

The Vampire happily followed her, his smile widening now that her protests had seemed to have ceased, "εγώ θα σας ακολουθεί οπουδήποτε, λίγο ταίρι μου" (I will follow you anywhere, my little mate.)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Gosh, I love being inspired!

Special kudos goes out to "willow faerie" for the kind encouragement. Thank you so much for being a lovely, loyal reader!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: The feeding frenzy<strong>

Julie contemplated returning to the RAV4 but thought better of it. At least not until she was sure about the time period that she was sent back to. Until then she was careful not to wander in a direction to which she wouldn't be able to go back to where she came from. The Vampire was still with her, following her like a little lost puppy that wanted to come home with her. Although she was glad not to be alone anymore, she felt awkward that she couldn't talk to him and wondered what use is his company was if they were unable to communicate.

The dirt road seemed to stretch on endlessly but the forest seemed to be thinning out. She was getting tired from all the wandering around though and soon she couldn't walk without swaying off to the side and shutting her eyes for a couple of seconds too long. Before she knew it, her legs gave out and she began to head towards the ground. Before she landed face first in the dirt, a pair of strong, marble like arms caught her by the waist and straightened her back up.

She whimpered helplessly, leaning into the Vampire's embrace. Julie no longer cared how ridiculous she looked, all she wanted to do was go home, climb into bed and sleep for 24 hours straight. Maybe 48 just for good measure. Speaking of sleep, hopefully this was all a dream. Soon she would wake up back at Curtis' mansion to breakfast in bed of her favourite, bacon and eggs with a side of boiled jasmine rice.

But if this was really a dream, it shouldn't feel this realistically hot and sticky. Her room was air conditioned and whenever it got particularly uncomfortable, Curtis always took the liberty of turning it on for her.

Speaking of which, she was suddenly leaning against something very cool and opened her eyes long enough to see that the Vampire had set her down onto the ground. Furthermore he was using himself as a makeshift bed for her, his back leaning against a tree with her body sprawled upon his chest. In normal circumstances, she wouldn't even dream of allowing herself to get into such a compromising position but right now, sleep was incredibly persuasive and soon she fell right into it's waiting embrace.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day<strong>

"You're not going anywhere, Curtis."

Curtis froze, his hand resting upon the door handle on the driver's side of his Nissan Navara Dual Cab. He knew that voice that barked this command and he automatically stood up straight, retracting his hand away from the vehicle and slowly turning towards the source. Golden eyes met crimson and for a moment, time stood still but in the worst possible way.

"So she's gone, isn't she?" Curtis responded in a small voice. He both heard and saw it. Displacement always set off an effect that would be easily mistaken for lightening.

"Yes, too bad there were no storm clouds for cover but nothing's perfect. All that matters is that she is where she is supposed to be now. Correct?"

Curtis nodded stiffly, "You do realise the repercussions of what you forced her to do-"

"What we both did, Curtis." came the correction in that same, bark of a command that made the vegetarian Vampire recoil slightly, "It has to be this way. You of all people should know what happens if you tamper with fate. You're the scientist after all."

"You're a big one to talk." he suddenly snarled back, "All because you aren't happy with the way things are-"

"I'm not denying that. But sometimes one has to change the past to make a better future. Like I said, nothing's perfect but now I finally have control and you will not interfere with my plan. Is that understood?"

Curtis stared daggers at the ground and nodded stiffly. "Yes. It is understood."

"Good. She is better off in the past. You needn't worry."

* * *

><p><strong>Back in time<strong>

Something was fluttering against her cheek, like a butterfly that was wafting by her face repeatedly. She twitched in her sleep and buried her face into the rough cloth against the otherside of her face. The fluttering caresses wouldn't stop though, this time trailing along the side of her face almost teasingly.

"Stop..." she murmured, shrugging a shoulder but the gentle touches were relentless. A icy digit tickled her underneath her chin and she suddenly awoke with a start. She sat up at once and looked around for the one at fault.

The Vampire was sniggering at her and she pouted indignantly, "That wasn't funny, you know." she said snappishly, leaning away to stretch her limbs. She looked up at the sky and saw it was just before the crack of dawn and her face fell slightly. Julie was always a bit of a night owl and she hated being woken up so early in the morning. Especially when she had no job to go to at this point in time anyway.

She went to lay back down but the Vampire was already on his feet. He offered out his hand to her and she shook her head. She wasn't ready to get up now, she was far too sleepy and emphasized this by laying back down on the ground, using her arms as a makeshift pillow.

It was then she heard it, a noise that was mildly embarrassing. Her tummy rumbled.

She was hungry.

Julie sat bolt upright and immediately placed a hand over the aforementioned area, her face going red. She looked up at the Vampire to get his reaction and he only saw pity on his face. He then looked down the road and took off, leaving her behind to listen to the involuntary sounds of her body was making.

He really was a funny Vampire, Julie thought to herself as she adjusted her skirt that had rode up her thighs in the night, they were strangers. He had no obligation to take care of her and yet he stayed with her the whole night without any funny business.

None that she knew of anyway.

* * *

><p>Aro glanced cautiously at the horizon every now and again for the sun to rise. Vampires of course were common knowledge and feared throughout today's society but if his plan for domination was going to work, he would have to walk the walk. He and his coven had agreed that they should begin making their kind 'disappear' from public view forever. Make the Vampire a mere myth instead of fact. But they couldn't achieve this goal while the Romanians were still in power because they didn't care who knew. They enjoyed being feared and served by the humans, fading away just wasn't on their agenda.<p>

Right now, he couldn't worry about that. His mate was hungry and he needed to get her something to eat. Also it wouldn't hurt for him to find someone to feed upon. It was a struggle last night to be so close to her and not sink his teeth into her supple flesh. Her scent was tantalizingly delicious and he found himself licking his lips at the thought of what her blood may taste like. It was also so much harder not to just turn her like Caius suggested before he left his coven to pursue her. He would of course return to them eventually but only when the girl was changed.

More to the point, the only reason why he was holding off on changing her was because the girl didn't appear to recognise that they were mates. Aro needed her to accept him. He couldn't bear the thought of changing her and having her in a limbo forever in regards to her feelings for him. She made him understand how Marcus and Caius felt about their mates, the unquenchable passion between them that he suddenly longed to have with this girl. However, he wasn't oblivious to her tendency to withdraw from him and keep him at an arms length, emotionally speaking. When she did talk to him, it was always in a tone of voice that suggested she was surprised by his presence.

He slowed down until he came across a village market a couple of miles east from where he left his mate. They were just opening and he went straight for the ones that had various fruits and vegetables on offer. His memories of a human were fading but he still recalled which ones could be eaten raw and which had to be cooked. He of course went for the more convenient choice of the type that was edible when raw. When the shop owners saw him approaching, they abandoned their stalls and hid within her feeble homes constructed by rotting timber, straw and dried mud. The standard for that period of time.

He gathered one of each that were available and left, without paying of course. Allowing these humans to live was payment enough for them and when he flitted off out of sight, it was then these frightened beings emerged from their hiding places.

* * *

><p>Julie stayed were the Vampire had left her. She didn't have a clue about how she knew but she trusted that he would come back for her. It was an unspoken promise between the two and so she waited patiently, her tummy growling and making all sorts of funny noises all the while. It was like something was gnawing at the pit of her empty stomach and she started to wish that she did grab a bite to eat before she went to meet Curtis at the parking lot at NEO Tech.<p>

She didn't have any notice that something like this was going to happen. Julie had been sleeping peacefully in her bed when her mobile vibrated on the bedside table next to her head. She was surprised to hear Curtis' excited voice on the other end and immediately demanded why he was out so late at the company building. Usually he stayed at home with her, or so she had thought until that night.

He had asked her to meet him at midnight and before she could ask why, he hung up. After she had dressed in her favourite pair of black leggings and dark blouse, it was then she received a text from him politely reminding her to come in her uniform.

Phooey.

NEO Tech was only five minutes walking distance away from the Mansion so she didn't see the need to hurry. It was a cool night out and seeing as she assumed she would be returning home with her Boss, she didn't bother to take her keys with her. Leaving them home with her mobile and her wallet and letting the security system lock the door behind her.

She remembered that there was half a foot long subway salad sandwich left in the fridge from when she was too busy to finish it earlier. Julie left it behind because again she was sure she was only going to be out for a little while and could always snack on it afterwards.

Oh if she only knew how wrong she would have been.

Just when she was about to drift off back to sleep against the tree she was sitting up against, someone grabbed her around the neck and dragged her up onto her feet. She let out a yelp of fright and struggled against the grip. Because of the lack of an arctic touch and the fowl stench of something that had been rotting in the sewer, she knew it wasn't her Vampire companion but filthy fellow human of the male sex.

He was laughing at her, groping at her body suggestively and grinding something hard into her backside. She let out a scream but he smacked his dirty, muddy hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. She was suddenly thrown onto the ground, her ballet style shoes falling off her feet from the impact. It was then that ghastly man began to tear irritably at her black pantyhose, ripping at the fragile, elastic material off her legs causing it to ladder and create holes.

She kicked and yelled, biting and scratching at him everytime he tried to go for her face again. Her heart was pumping madly in her chest and her muscles ached from being treated so roughly. When he punched her hard across the face, she collided with one of the thick roots of the tree that left her head spinning and throbbing in agony.

When it looked like he was about to come down on her again, there was snarl like an animal and her attacker was thrown off her little body. She looked up dizzily just in time to see that her Vampire had returned and had fastened his teeth savagely to the neck of her would be rapist.

Julie had never seen a real live feeding before, Curtis didn't even allow her to see him hunt animals for their blood. This was truly the first time she had ever seen a Vampire in the midst of his blood lust... and damn, did it look absolutely horrifying!

She watched with wide eyes as the colour gradually drained from her attacker's face, his eyes losing the light of life and his body growing limp as he died slowly in her Vampire's arms. Once he was done feeding, he threw the drained body off to the side like it were a pile of rubbish and turned to look at her. Julie stared back up at him, her breathing coming in short little gasps.

The Vampire swept down to her side immediately and she winced away from him. He looked over at the dead body in disgust, "Σας είπα πως αυτό θα συνέβαινε." (I told you this would happen.) he growled savagely, glaring down at the corpse before returning his attention back to Julie, his gaze softening, "Λυπάμαι που σας άφησε μόνο. Αυτό δεν θα συμβεί ξανά, το υπόσχομαι." (I'm sorry I left you alone. It will never happen again, I promise.) he reached for her and Julie shrunk away from him, "Παρακαλώ μην μου φοβούνται. Ποτέ δεν θα σας βλάψει." (Please do not fear me. I will never hurt you.)

His voice, Julie noticed, was smooth and almost sensuous sounding. Unlike the sound of Curtis' voice that she likened to the gentle tones of a clarinet, this Vampire's voice was more like a violin, light and feathery. Maybe more like liquid chocolate, warm and inviting.

She scooted away from him, shaking her head and his reaction to this almost broke her heart. He let out a wounded whimper and looked sadly at the ground, "Γιατί δεν μου ευνοήσει; τι είναι λάθος με μένα; γιατί με απορρίψουν;" (Why do you not favour me? What is wrong with me? Why do you reject me?) he was visibly distressed and it tugged at her heart strings enough to make her approach him. She reached out a hand towards him and touched his arm.

"It's okay. I know you were only trying to protect me. Why? I don't know but I appreciate it." she offered him alittle smile but the Vampire didn't seem to notice that she was making an effort to show gratitude. Perhaps she had overreacted. After all, if he hadn't come in time, something terrible would have happened to her.

She rose her hand that had been resting upon his arm and up to his face, attempting to imitate the way he had been stroking her face earlier to wake her up. The Vampire started to vibrate against her touch and it took her a moment to realise that he was purring.

"αυτό σας σημαίνει ότι σας παρακαλώ;" (Does this mean I please you?) he whispered, leaning into her touch happily. That charming smile of his making a reappearance. He then got up, reluctantly pulling away from her to retrieve a bundle of cloth that had been set on the ground a small distance away. He brought it back over to where Julie sat, got down on one knee before her and presented it out to her proudly, "Μπορείτε να φάτε τώρα, λίγο σύντροφο μου." (You eat now, my little mate.)

Julie hesitantly took the offering and unwrapped it to reveal it's contents. To her relief and delight, there was an assortment of fruits and vegetables that she could easily consume. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled up at her companion gratefully, "These are for me? Thank you!" She went to reach for one of the smallest fruits but the hand of her cold companion shot out and stopped her. She looked up at him questioningly before her tugged her towards him.

The girl only obeyed the silent request just to see where he was going with this. She was then brought up onto his lap. He sat cross legged beneath her while she settled in the gab between his legs. He then reached for the small fruit she had gone for and brought it up to her lips for her.

Oh. He wanted to feed her.

Rather than refusing him, she opened her mouth and allowed him to bring it in for her to bite into. He purred approvingly against her while she ate and for the briefest of moments, she felt almost pampered. A ghost of a smile appeared upon her lips as he continued to feed her until she had to stop him before she burst.

Maybe being stuck here with this strange Vampire wasn't so bad after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4: Me Tarzan, you Jane**

The sun was now out and Aro really didn't fancy walking around in it in front of the little human and so wordlessly persuaded her to take another way into the forest. That way he would have some cover and the shade would provide much needed relief for her. She, at first, made some kind of protest but he used his supernatural strength to his advantage and carried her off. A move he wasn't exactly proud of but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Of course not before she retrieved those poor excuses for shoes.

Aro was carrying her bridal style, keeping her close and secure against his cold, hard frame. She was babbling on about something and he never wished more than now that he could understand her. Her voice was like... he wasn't quite sure but it made him tingle pleasantly all over. It sounded different now that she wasn't so anxious. Why didn't his gift work on her? What was wrong with this strange little girl's mind to render his ability useless? Was he losing his power?

No, that can't be it. When he had killed that human male that was trying to violate with her, he could read his mind like everyone else he came into contact with prior to the little female. He saw every thought he ever had, his current thoughts of lust over his mate was the most prominent at that time and it made Aro shake with possessive fury.

No one had the right to mate with her but him!

The forest was full of animal noises, birds singing, predators growling and amphibians croaking every now and again. It was the song of the wilderness and the girl was soon entranced by it like she had never been this close to nature before. She seemed to fidget in his arms every time the sound of an animal came too close and her grip onto him tightened.

This both thrilled and amused him.

Even if something dangerous decided to approach them, Aro was more than capable of getting rid of them. When it came to the hierarchy of predators, Vampires were at the top of the food chain.

When they passed a small waterfall and a body of fresh water, it was then she wriggled around the most. Struggling to get out of his arms and go towards it. Aro grunted questioningly as he set her back on the ground and watched her run to it. She went down on her knees upon the waters edge and began to splash water all over her face and up and down the exposed part of her arms.

She kicked off her shoes and then repositioned herself so she could reach under her skirt and tug the damaged dark mesh covering she wore off her legs and threw it off to the side. Aro watched as she stood back up, stepped into the mini pool and began washing her legs, running her hands up and down the shapely limbs swiftly.

Aro wondered for the briefest of moments where she had to be from to be able to wear such immodest garments. Not that he didn't like the way she looked, but he felt that if the girl was going to walk around so scantily clad, then it should be for his eyes only and no one elses. He already killed one male for trying to steal his mating rights with her, he wondered how many more he would have to slaughter if she didn't get herself some decent clothing soon.

* * *

><p>Julie felt dirty and she hated feeling dirty. She was dying for a shower and a change of clothing but seeing those facilities were not at her disposal at the moment, bathing in a lake with a waterfall had to do. She was too desperate and she would be damned if she ever allowed herself to go around smelling and looking like a hobo.<p>

She was painfully aware that the Vampire was staring at her from the sidelines and it made her hands fumble ungracefully. How strange she must look to him but it wasn't exactly her fault. She didn't know how people went about taking baths in his time and only had seen a few episodes of 'Xena' and 'Hercules' to go off by from memory.

"I'll be done in a minute." she called over to him although she felt like she was far from done. To have a proper wash, she would have to take all her clothes off and she was far too embarrassed to. A incomplete pat down will have to do for now.

"αν θέλετε να είναι καθαρό, θα πρέπει να λάβει όλα τα καλύμματα σας μακριά." (If you wish to be clean, you must take all your coverings off.)

It was the way he said whatever he said that made Julie's face grow hot. His tone was almost disciplinary, like he was scolding her for doing something wrong. Her head snapped towards him and she frowned.

"I'm doing my best considering the circumstances!" she retorted indignantly, "I didn't choose to come here, you know and you didn't need to come with me-" Okay, maybe that was a lie. In the first place, if he didn't come with her, she would have been raped and/or murdered by now. The proof in the pudding almost happened that morning if it weren't for her Vampire companion so she really shouldn't be getting mad. Also he went to the trouble of getting her something to eat, so again, she should thank her lucky stars.

The Vampire tilted his head to the side, furrowing his own brow and was about to open his mouth again when Julie began to unbutton her shirt. Yes she was going to strip down but only to her underwear. That way she would have alittle bit of her dignity left and she could wash herself more effectively.

She tossed her shirt and skirt onto the rocky bank and quickly immersed herself under the water. It was mildly uncomfortable to have her underthings that consisted of a basic white set of bra and panties soaking wet but sacrifices had to be made. The material clinged heavily to her body as she stood back up, the water cascading down her shivering form like a temporary fountain. She avoided all eye contact with the Vampire who she was sure was in the opinion that she had gone insane.

* * *

><p>Aro stayed on the bank, unable to tear his eyes away from his little female who had suddenly become so bold as to parade around almost completely naked infront of him. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? Those strange under coverings she wore (if one could even call it that) left little to the imagination and he was suddenly very grateful he had shapeless robes on.<p>

Yes, he was definitely very male as much as she was very female at that moment but he avoided joining her in the lake because of two reasons. One, judging from her reaction before to him simply suggesting an easier way to bathe herself, he didn't want to risk causing her further discomfort. Two, there was no shading over the lake and he didn't want to reveal what happened when he stepped into the sun just yet. So he was forced to simply watch her in fascination as she finished up and sat down upon one of the rocks, letting the sun dry her.

He came to sit down on the grassy ground behind her underneath a short, forest palm tree. They were still close enough to be able to talk to each other without resorting to shouting but far enough away so the sun's rays couldn't reach him.

They sat in silence for a moment or two before the girl finally turned around to face him. Aro straightened up at once, doing his best to not let his eyes wander too far south. For someone so small, she was well built with curves all in the right places...

"Julie."

Aro blinked, watching her hands come to rest over the soft swells that were the top of her breasts. What was a 'Julie'?

"Julie." she repeated, patting her hands lightly upon her breasts again and Aro continued to stare at her in complete bewilderment. What was she trying to do? Direct his attention to her already lovely looking-

Oh!

Aro sat up a bit straighter and nodded in comprehension, she was trying to communicate with him. Maybe the term 'Julie' was her title?

"Troo-lee?" Aro repeated, trying to wrap his tongue around the foreign dialect that earned him a disapproving shake of the girl's head. She tapped her chest again pointedly.

"Julie."

"Tuu-li?"

The girl began to giggle at him and he started chuckling along with her. They must have looked ridiculous to an outsider but who cares. This was funny!

"Juu-lee." she said slowly, sounding out the word for his benefit. Leaning forward towards him to which he was momentarily distracted by the new angle of her feminine curves.

"Juu-wee?"

"No. J-oo-lee." she waved her finger back and forth to each syllable as if trying to poke holes in the air, "Julie."

"Julie."

She clapped her hands to praise him and nodded, smiling at him and his stomach made a odd swooping sensation. He liked making her happy and he beamed back at her, getting up on his knees to say something back.

Now it was his turn.

"Aro."

The girl he came to know as 'Julie' took a moment or two to process what he just said. He patted his own chest, imitating what she had been doing before when she was trying to teach him how to say her name. She nodded to show she understood and straightened up too.

"Arrow?"

Aro shook his head feverishly. She was close but the pronounciation was a tad off.

"Ah-roh."

"Aro."

There! That wasn't so bad, was it? He nodded and grinned enthusiastically as her face flushed red. Now they were finally getting somewhere.

* * *

><p>Caius and Athenodora had returned to the area where their coven brother had left to pursue the illicit female human. They ventured towards the direction she had been running from just out of curiousity. The girl spoke so strangely and it made the blonde male suspicious. Her poor excuse for an outfit also wasn't doing her any favours with him.<p>

It was his wife that spotted it first, something big and white underneath a flimsy covering of branches and palm leaves. She didn't wait for her husband to as she hurried forward and began to cautiously remove the concealment. Each piece she removed, the larger the white object seemed to be and when it was complete exposed, it was then his mate looked up at him for help.

Caius wasn't sure what to make of it. He had never seen anything so irregular in all his days. It didn't appear to be alive because he couldn't detect any sort of heart beat from it. It had no smell that he would identify as blood and it seemed too well crafted and formed to be anything natural.

He then decided to throw caution to the wind, approached it as bravely as he could and slapped the front of it. The moment he did, it made a loud noise like a roar of a beast and Athenodora let out a cry of fright and jumped backwards. She grabbed her husband's arm and begged to him to run away from it with her. Caius however stayed rooted on the spot as he watched it's 'eyes' light up and flash ominously in the Vampire's direction.

It was then Athenodora screeched for her mate to run with her now and this time he didn't think twice. He bolted away with her as fast as they could go.

Whatever it was, he was sure the girl had something to do with it. He decided then and there that the stranger could not be trusted and vowed to track down Aro and warn him.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just a heads up, again I don't have a clue about ancient Latin or Greek so I had to settle with the modern versions provided by good ol' Google translate.**

**Apologies in advance!**

**Now, on with the show :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Age of Empires<strong>

_**The present day**_

Being that the Slave Time Machine was a product of the 21st century, it's time zone remained completely in sync with the Master Time Machine. When the Slave 'went to sleep', the tracking function ran off the back up power that was the uranium enriched car battery. It was a special feature that Curtis was sure to include in the design of his inventions. He could even remotely 'wake up' the Slave whenever he chose to. The sleeping function was activated whenever it faced significant strain and/or shock from the displacement.

Like the driver putting on the brakes too quickly after shifting through the 4th dimension.

The coordinates that the Master Time Machine downloaded from the Slave indicated that it was several hours after displacement. It also reported lifeforms much like himself that had been in very close proximity of the vehicle. However the authorised driver, also known as his employee, Julie was no where near it's location.

And this worried Curtis.

He looked up apprehensively from the Master computer screen and glanced about the parking lot. Curtis' unwelcomed companion was no where to be seen but his strategic mind told him it was still too risky to make a run for it. The visitor was quite the strategist too and if being one himself taught him anything, they made difficult opponent's to double cross.

He was sure Julie was still alive and well in the past, otherwise his visitor from the Volturi would tell him otherwise. They wanted the girl to remain alive as much as he did... but of course for very different reasons.

So this was what a whore monger felt like.

* * *

><p><strong><em>In the past<em>**

The market place was alive with chatter and laughter. It looked like everything was on for sale and when Aro and Julie entered the scene, the Vampire was sure to stay within the shaded areas while tugging his human companion along with him.

The freshly bathed girl had no qualms about letting the Vampire lead the way amongst the chaos. There was a mixture of all sorts of scents in the air ranging from spicy to sweet. She was constantly turning her head this way and that as if trying to look at everything at once. It was like being in the busiest of cities with no room to move but only a heck of a alot more primitive.

Aro lead the girl towards a small hut with all sorts of fabrics and accessories hanging from what had to be the equivalent to the roof gutter in modern times. Inside seemed even smaller due to the merchandise that were displayed all over the log walls and piled upon the tables. There was a stout, older human woman who took one look at the immortal and shot straight out of her seat to serve him.

Aro gently brought Julie towards his front and explained to the woman, after she had her mini heart attack from her state of dress, that she was a stranger in the country and wanted her to dress like a noble lady. His noble lady.

The woman nodded and staggered over towards the section of her store where she kept her finest dresses. Julie was then presented with a long, white, sleeveless gown with a matching himation decorated with gold trim. She was then taken by the arm and lead towards the back behind the curtain so she could change. The girl looked indecisively up at Aro but he smiled at her reassuringly and waved her off.

Within 5 minutes, Julie emerged from the back wearing the dress that the store owner recommended and Aro was unable to take his eyes off her. It was as if the dress was made for her, not that disgraceful get up he had first seen her in. He nodded his approval and held out a hand for the girl to take. As soon as she was safe by his side once more, he lead her out of the store.

Again, paying by letting the store owner live.

As soon as they had stepped outside, it was then it happened. The Market place was filled with cries of terror and disorder, humans running in all directions. Merchandise flew everywhere and stalls were abruptly overturned in the stampede to get away from whatever it was that scaring them.

Julie was suddenly shoved behind Aro's back, her Vampire letting out a hostile growl as he moved her backwards to hide behind the hut that they had just exited. She clung to his waist and he in turn gripped her clasped hands where they lay across his abdomen.

She looked around his body to see what was going on to be met with the sight of a large group of pale beings that sparkled attractively in the sunlight. Like Aro, they had red eyes too and were unnaturally beautiful. She would have thought they were Vampires too if it weren't for their prismatic effect.

Unless Aro can do that too.

Speak of the Devil, she looked up at him in wonder. If all Vampires could glitter like they could, how come she never saw Aro do such a thing? What was wrong with him? Or did he have to feel or act a certain way for such to occur?

And then the one that she assumed was the leader of the pack turned and looked straight at them. He had to be a whole foot taller than Aro, broad shouldered, muscular like a body builder and platinum blonde hair. Bottom line, he was very big and very intimidating and easily dwarfed her Vampire in comparison.

But if Aro was scared, he certainly didn't show it. Infact he looked as though he was just about ready to rip this man's head off any minute now.

* * *

><p>It was the Romanian coven. At least a small percentage of them. Many Vampires were loyal to them and happily ran all over the land like pathetic lap dogs to make sure the humans remained fearful of their kind. In Aro's opinion, the fear and devastation they caused was a ridiculous notion but he couldn't deny that it was working. Every mortal that had been in the market place were now nowhere to be seen except for his little mate that he tried to keep hidden behind his back.<p>

Unfortunately Julie's wonderfully delectable scent was too much of a red flag and in no time at all, the leader of the pack noticed because now he was staring straight at the pair. He heard her heart beat quicken and he cursed to himself, knowing that her fear would only amplify the effect.

Poor, silly human of his.

When the blonde went to advance upon them, the raven haired immortal let out a threatening rumble that clearly said, 'Leave us alone or else.'

The blonde smirked in turn and continued to swagger over to them in an obnoxious manner.

"Habes consequat, amice?" (You have a problem, my friend?)

Although Aro understood and could speak Latin perfectly well, he still chose to reply in his native Greek tongue, "Δεν είμαι φίλος σου." (I am not your friend.) he snarled, watching as the blonde's gaze swept over towards his mate in interest, "Δεν επιτρέπεται να δούμε τι ανήκει στον εαυτό μου γιατί είμαι πολύ περήφανος και ζηλιάρης άνθρωπος." (You are not permitted to look at what belongs to myself for I am a very proud and jealous man.)

"Sed illa est pulchellus. Ego similis fere feminas. Maxime delectamentum, fere feminas." (But she is pretty. I like pretty females. Especially delicious, pretty females.) he licked his chapped lips and bared his teeth menacingly, "Age nunc, frater Lamia. Non erit difficile. Manum super humanam et parcam tibi." (Come on now, brother Vampire. Do not be difficult. Hand the human over and I will spare you.)

* * *

><p>Whatever they were talking about, it wasn't good at all. The blonde kept looking over in her direction and Aro's voice was rising and becoming more savage in tone with each word that he spoke. She clung tightly to him as the other Vampire drew nearer and her fear only increased ten fold.<p>

It was then she withdrew her hands from around Aro's waist while he was spitting venomous sounding words in his language up at his opponent. She carefully raised her hands to undo her new himation from across her chest and unfolded it. She would only have one chance to do this right. She didn't want any harm to come to Aro just because he was only trying to protect her.

When he was only a couple of feet away from the pair, Julie tossed the garment with all her might up at the bigger Vampire so it would land on his head. Temporarily obscuring his vision.

He roared in shock and the next thing she knew, she was swept up onto Aro's back and they were running - no, gliding at top speed away from the scene. Yelling and screeching could be heard from behind and when Julie turned her head to look at what was going on, the whole, glittering group was now charging after them.

She turned her head back to face the front and it was then she discovered that Aro was sparkling too! It was like thousands of glittering diamonds were embedded within his pale flesh and she was momentarily mesmerised.

It took her a moment or two for it to dawn upon her but she realised now that Vampires didn't burn in the sun's presence, they merely sparkled and she found this to be both good and bad. Good because it meant that Aro could venture out into the sun with her and not be harmed. Bad because those that were chasing them evidently could not be harmed either when she desperately wished they could turn into dust right then and there.

If only her RAV4 was working again. She could take Aro back to the future with her...

Wait. Could she even do such-?

"Λυπάμαι λίγο σύντροφο μου. Είμαι μια αποτυχία ως προστάτης σας!" (I'm sorry, my little mate. I am a failure as your protector!) Aro was yelling over the commotion behind them as they sped towards the forest. The tone of voice he was using was that of someone in deep remorse and again it tugged at her heart strings in a way that made her want to cry.

"Hey, hey. Please don't be upset, Aro. You are doing- Look out!" she screamed at the sight of one of their vengeful pursuers that had leapt up into the air and was trying to ambush them from above. Aro was already on it though, moving quickly off to the side to avoid impact.

She squeezed her arms around his shoulders encouragingly as he continued to swiftly piggy back her away from the calamity behind them. There was a noise like crack of thunder and Julie looked around just in time to see the Vampire that had tried to ambush them had landed violently onto one of their comrades and smashed themselves to pieces. It would have been comical if she wasn't scared out of her mind of what could happen to them if they were captured.

"Julie, παρακαλώ να με συγχωρήσετε. Συγχωρείστε μου ..." (Julie, please forgive me. Please forgive me...) his tone of voice wasn't exactly giving her confidence in their desperate situation. The other Vampires were closing in on them fast and she didn't didn't know how to get them out of this mess. Their language barrier never seemed more daunting then it was now.

Because she was feeling incredibly frantic and hated hearing the note of disappointment in Aro's voice, she did the only thing she knew would have a universal meaning to it.

She kissed him.

Julie brushed some of his dark locks away from the side of his face, leaving his neck exposed to her. She couldn't reach his cheek from the angle she was in and so swooped in to plant a firm but meaningful kiss upon the back of his neck. A kiss that she hoped conveyed the message that she didn't think ill of him at all. That she appreciated him.

* * *

><p>It was as if Aro was struck by lightening. It was startling, powerful and tingled in every pore of his being. Her mouth was so hot, yet so soft and it did something to him. Something that made him move a hell of a lot faster than he ever could. It gave him a boost, chasing away his fears and made him feel incredibly invincible.<p>

His grip upon his mate's legs tightened as he thundered forward, the ravenous group beginning to shrink in the distance. She was babbling something against his neck, the feeling of her lips as she talked against his marble skin sent more feelings of giddiness to the pit of his tummy. She repeated his name every now and again and when she did his, her lower lip would rub against his neck deliciously.

Aro's chest rumbled with his purrs as they weened away from the forest and flew down the dirt road in the opposite direction to whence they came. He decided that hiding out in the forest wasn't a good idea after all.

No, he had a better idea in mind and it definitely involved the precious human that was riding along on his back.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year ahead!**

**I thought I better make it clear, while one character is not 'present' (whether they aren't physically in a scene, unconscious, aren't within hearing range etc) of another character that doesn't speak their language, the conversation will be primarily be in English. I apologise for any confusion or the like caused.**

**Anyway, enjoy! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: The Ultimatum<strong>

_**Back in time**_

It was bordering on the beginning of the evening and Julie was snoozing lightly upon Aro's back as he carried her into the city of Athens. The locals were sure to keep out of his way at the sight of the Vampire but he couldn't stop the curious stares he got for the precious cargo he bore. He was careful not to do anything to startle the girl from her slumber. After all, they had a big day and he couldn't blame her from suffering from some form of exhaustion.

He came upon an Inn where he decided they should stay for the night. Upon seeing him enter, the owner immediately offered him one of the best rooms he had available - that was until he saw the girl that Aro intended to spend the night with.

"She is your wife?" the Inn keeper asked, his eyes shifting doubtfully to the young female that lay slumped on the Vampire's back. Aro rose a brow in response.

"Alas, no. Not yet." Aro replied, readjusting her peaceful body on his back when she twitched slightly out of place. "She will be my bride soon-"

"I'm sorry, sir. But I cannot allow the unmarried to share a room. It is forbidden." the Inn Keeper said, eying Aro fearfully. It was never a good idea to say 'no' to a Vampire but it was obvious this human male felt like he had little choice. Their Leaders handed out cruel and very public punishments to those who broke the law. One involved being put to death by being sent to the Romanian Coven to be fed upon.

Either way he was going to die by the hands of a Vampire.

As predicted, Aro frowned, evidently displeased with the prospect that he wasn't going to get his way. He began to snarl, making the Inn Keeper shrink back submissively, "Do you wish to die? Your mundane human laws do now apply to my kind-"

"But they do for that human woman you bear on your back, sir." he said quickly, gesturing timidly to Julie, "In our society, if she shares a room with you tonight, she will be declared a prostitute by law-"

"How dare you!" Aro snarled so loudly that Julie flinched out of her sleep. She whimpered at the sound of the immortal's angered protests and gripped tightly upon his shoulders pleadingly.

* * *

><p>Julie had been dreaming she was back at work as the NEO Tech receptionist in the 21st century. However, as she looked around the Office, there was not another soul in sight. It appeared to be daytime but even the computers were off as well as the lights. She looked out the window but there weren't any cars sitting in the company parking lot below and everything seemed silent.<p>

It was then she decided to get up and look around for someone else. Anyone who could tell her what was going on. She went downstairs to the foyer where the employees marked their time cards and went straight for the exit. The exit it's self consisted of a double glass door to which she could see the neighboring warehouse.

As soon as she pushed open the door and stepped outside, the scenery had changed to a forest where it seemed more lively then the empty Office building she had left behind. She could hear the animals in the background, the water flowing from the waterfall and the general rustling of the leaves and bushes.

Something prodded her shoulder and when she turned she saw Aro standing beside her. He was sparkling within the rays of the sun that filtred through the branches of the forest trees. He was smiling sweetly at her, his red eyes shining with emotion as his hand had come down to take hold of hers. As always he was icy cold to touch but since knowing Curtis, it never did phase her.

When she looked behind her to the Office building, she saw it was grey and appeared dead compared to the lively colour and brightness of the wilderness she and Aro were standing in.

It was then she heard him yelling and woke up to Aro hollering furiously at a human man who seemed to be cowering against the wall. The man's face was flushed and his hands were raised in a 'I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me' position.

"What's going on?!" she called out, scrambling off Aro's back and grabbing onto his arm before he decided to tear her fellow human limb from limb. Meanwhile the human male went from a cowering, quivering mess to outright loony. His eyes widened at Julie and all of the sudden he was pointing and shouting something in a voice of awe.

She looked to Aro for some sort of a explanation but he also looked as though he didn't have the faintest idea what was going on. That and he was getting more impatient by the moment.

And then, the human male started to, what Julie could only described as grovelling. He came to her feel and implored her with bows and reaching out his hands to her as if trying to emphasize her presence. She looked around awkwardly before trying to move toward Aro for protection from this maniac.

* * *

><p>"She speaks in tongues!" the Inn Keeper cried out in a hysterical manner, like he had just be dubbed the highest honour in existence. "There are indeed Gods above us and have sent this woman who speaks in the holy language to prove their existence!"<p>

Aro, meanwhile had heard enough and back handed the man causing Julie to yelp in protest. The human male fell to the ground in a heap, letting out a surprised whimper, "How dare you act a fool in our presence?! Your display is an insult!" The Vampire took this reaction to his mate's inability to speak his language almost as badly as when the man made a implication that she was a prostitute. To him it was as if this idiot was making fun of her and he would be damned if he was going to stand by and let the harassment go on. It clearly wasn't her fault that she didn't know how to communicate properly. She was, after all, a foreigner in his land. "Are you going to allow us to have a room together or am I going to have to seek service else where?"

"I apologise. I did not realise you are her disciple." as soon as he straightened himself up, he bowed over and over again in a sincere fashion at Aro and Julie, "If the Messiah wishes to share a room with you, then it shall be done." The Inn Keeper began to hurry past them and headed outside, leading the way towards the back of the establishment.

Well, thinking that his mate was a Messiah instead of a Prostitute _was_ better. But it still annoyed the Vampire to no end though.

"If you dare tell anyone about this," Aro began with a snarl as the Inn Keeper presented their room to them. "I will personally see to it that you die very slowly and very painfully. Is that understood?"

The man nodded, stumbling over his own feet to allow the little human female to go inside first. Aro didn't want it going around that a so called 'Messiah' was among them. Not only will it attract unwanted attention from religious humans that were looking for a protector from the Vampires, but even more so from the Romanians who will use it as the perfect excuse to kill her.

Especially when they worked so hard to make Humans think they didn't have a chance against the immortals.

* * *

><p>"Aro," she began as soon as they were left alone and the Vampire perked at hearing her say his name, "I really need to learn your language... too bad I don't even know where to start. We only have made it as far as learning each other's names and that doesn't even count!" she flopped herself down upon what she supposed was meant to be a bed. It was a large, square block made of straw with a flimsy sheet thrown over it. The blankets were folded at the foot of this bed and with closer inspection, felt like the same material used for a sack designed to hold potatoes.<p>

The Vampire sat down beside her and offered her a sympathetic smile. He reached over and placed his wintry hand over hers gently. "Παρακαλώ μην ανησυχείτε. Είμαι εδώ για σας." (Please do not worry. I am here for you.)

Julie looked down at their joined hands and began to wonder about something. Why did Aro bring her to what she gathered was some sort of Ancient motel room? What was he expecting of her?

It was then she blushed bright red and immediately scooted away from him.

Oh no. What has she done?! No wonder this Vampire was following her around. Thinking back to all that had happened between them up to this point, she had been leading him on to think... to think...

"Aro." she ran her fingers through her long dark hair and shook her head, "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry!"

It was then she was forced to think of the possibility of this companionship developing into something more. On the one hand, Aro was clearly a handsome, protective and helpful man. He literally went out of his way to cater to her every need. The downside was they couldn't understand each other and they were from very different time periods. She still wasn't sure exactly when she was, but she knew that it was far before a time where women were liberated and the invention of paracetamols. And although she hated to admit it, she was hoping that she would go back home to the 21st century as soon as possible.

So starting something romantic with Aro wouldn't be fair on both of them. Judging from the way Aro was acting towards her now, more him than her.

Speak of the Devil, Aro was sitting very close to her now and was purring again. A purr that admittedly sent pleasant chills down her spine. His perfectly symmetrical, flawlessly chiseled featured face was drifting slowly towards her and she sat frozen beside him. It then occurred to her that she was alone in a room with Aro, with the door locked and a bed readily at their disposal.

Not to mention Julie never got attention from a handsome man before.

It was then she placed her hands upon his chest and gently tried to push him away from her. She shook her head for added effect and smiled apologetically, "I'm not ready." talking to him was like talking to a brick wall but she knew he was smart enough to know from her actions and the tone of her voice that she was rejecting him.

* * *

><p>Since becoming a Vampire, not only was Aro's tendency to read people from touch was powerfully enhanced, obviously so were his senses. It wasn't the speed or the vision he was talking about but more the fact that he could sort of hearsense how a human's body reacted. Like right now, Julie's body temperature and heart rate had gone up significantly from the way he was drifting towards her. He was pretty competent with telling if it was from fear or attraction nowadays and he was fairly confident that her personal environment was due to attraction.

Her breathing had become shallow, her face was flushed and she was radiating heat from every pore of her body. Aro also observed that said body was beginning to shake involuntarily, a dead give away that she was restraining herself from doing something as she was moving away from him.

Something like letting him kiss her.

Aro smirked inwardly as the girl murmured something that sounded like guilt from her obvious refusal of his romantic intentions. But he was certain she was definitely interested. She started it after all.

She kissed him first.

There were so many of them, he wasn't unaware that they were getting dangerously close to catching them. He was running as fast as he normally could too and although he was determined to get his mate to safety, he was losing confidence. He wasn't used to this. There hasn't been anyone he cared more for in his life until he met his little Julie and he was suddenly anxious. Did she like him? Would she ever let him turn her? Will she stay with him throughout their eternity together?

It was then Aro, distracted by his inner mental turmoil, began to let it affect his physical being. He suddenly felt weighed down, constricted and was suffocating within the confines. It was like there was nothing he could do himself to make it all go away, he was falling in a pit of despair and it was all because of the possibility of spending forever alone.

Then she kissed him.

Her kiss was like the key that allowed him to unlock something within him. A new source of power that made him feel like he could do anything. He was free, nothing was going to hold him back and it felt so incredibly good!

Okay, yes. Such behaviour from a woman in his time was not common. Infact it was unheard of unless she was... what that Inn Keeper so rudely implied of her at first. Come to think of it, it didn't start with her kissing him. Maybe it was more that she had been half naked infront of him back at that waterfall or that she had approached him in such a unabashed manner when they first met.

But then again, to be fair, she was in visible distress when they first met. And it was him that suggested she should take all her clothes off.

It was as much his fault as it was hers.

* * *

><p>Julie had fallen asleep again and Aro stayed in the room with her to keep watch. There was definitely a reason why he had brought her to Athens and it had alot to do with his plans. Plans that he had mentally modified to accommodate her presence in his life.<p>

"Brother."

Aro's head raised at the sound of a voice that could hardly be heard within hearing range of a human. Being he was a Vampire, it was a clear as if the person was standing right beside him instead of outside a fair distance away.

The raven haired Vampire moved to look straight out the glassless window towards a lone, blonde male Vampire who stood several metres away. Aro stared at him and tilted his head slightly to the side in wonder.

What was Caius doing here?

"We need to talk."

"The courtship is not complete." Aro replied in a voice that was just as low so as to not disturb the slumbering human. "She... she..." he hesitated for a brief moment. Although he was confident that Julie will be his soon, anxiety came back to haunt him. "She-"

"I don't think you would like to continue to pursue this female after I show you what I saw." Caius was suddenly at the window and he held out his hand for his coven brother to take, "You need to know this."

Aro eyed the blonde male's hand skeptically before he eventually took it. He firmly believed that no matter what his brother was going to show him, he will still want Julie as much as before. The moment he touched Caius' skin, his mind was instantly filled with images of that big white something that his fellow Vampire identified as 'the Beast'. He also saw Caius' assumption that his mate had something to do with it. That whatever the Beast and Julie were about, it was nothing good and if Aro still planned to overthrow the Romanians, then he would have to send the girl on her way as soon as possible.

Caius identified her as a liability because they didn't know anything about her.

Aro withdrew his hand immediately and then turned his head to look over at Julie who was still fast asleep. She was so small, so human and looked as threatening as a flower that bloomed within the sun's presence. He was aware he only knew her for a short while but she had never been violent towards him nor did anything that would make him believe she was capable of treachery.

"I'm not going to leave Julie-"

"Oh, so the wench has a name-"

Before Caius could go on, Aro had him tightly by the neck and let out a growl of contempt. Julie stirred in her bed and he was immediately silenced. As soon as the girl settled back down, it was then Aro turned back to Caius, his eyes dark with rage and his fingers making small cracks appear upon the blonde's bloodless skin.

"Do not..." he snarled, leering at his coven brother dangerously, "Do not speak another foul word against my mate again. You besmirch her, you besmirch me."

"She has bewitched you." Caius looked at Aro as if he were seeing him for the first time. It was as if he had never seen the sky before and it both awed and terrified him. "You would stand against us for the sake of a human?"

"I am not standing against anyone. Julie will become one of us-"

"But until then, you disregard me? Like my words are not worth anything?" despite Caius' ruthless demeanour, he looked... hurt. It was as if Aro had punched a hole in his chest and was extremely proud of it.

They stood there, looking at each other for a long time before the blonde, looking thoroughly put out, eventually turned around and left. He flitted away leaving Aro to watch on after him. When it came to these two, one was as stubborn as the other but Aro felt that he was the leader of this Coven and therefore what he said goes.

Although he was mad, he knew Caius was only looking out for his best interests. To give him his dues, in all actuality, he was curious to see this 'Beast' for himself.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Yes! Another speedy update because I love writing for you all that much :D

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Living in a world without you<strong>

Julie was continuing the same dream she had been experiencing before she was woken up by the argument Aro was having with the Inn Keeper. She was back where the dream had left her, split between the two time periods; the 21st century and the Ancient era. Again the time she came from in her dream was just as dull and lifeless as Aro's time was bright and colourful.

She looked down at her feet, one was planted in her world to which it was scarily absent of any life, infact her own body part looked like it was dead, like a corpse that had been devoid of it's soul for a couple of hours. She then glanced at her other foot that was standing in Aro's world and it was by comparison far more attractive.

Then it finally occurred to her. This dream was trying to tell her something. She was not so dim as to not realise that she lived more than she ever did in the past then in the future. In her time, looking at the pros and cons and summing up the inventory of her life there up until she was sent back; she was lacking.

As far as she was concerned, she was the only surviving member of her family left. Her mother died a couple of years before her father's recent passing. She had no siblings or any other family she was aware of. She had a good paying job but not enough to enable her to buy/rent her own home or a car. She had no friends and no romantic attachments because she was bullied at school and thus was scared to socialize as a result. All she had was Curtis and even then he would outlive her because she really didn't see the need to become like him. He was her bestfriend but she suspected he only reached out to her because they were both very lonely people and were in desperate need of companionship. She never felt like she belonged in the 21st century, it was as if the future always made the point to reject her.

Since being sent into the past, whether it was intentional or by accident, she had more adventure and excitement than she ever had in her life. And that was definitely saying something. Within the hour of arriving here, she made a friend with little to no effort, did some exploring and among the horror, had a wee bit of fun. She was finally living and now that she thought about it, she didn't know if she really could go back to the future.

Julie awoke to Aro's finger tips, brushing through her hair - at least she thought it had been Aro until she turned her head and saw that it definitely wasn't.

It was a woman, a female Vampire to be exact judging from her flawless, pale complexion and stunning red eyes. To be fair though, if her vision had remained blurry from sleep for that little while longer, she could have easily mistook her for Aro.

She had long, thick dark hair like Aro which tumbled passed her shoulders and down the middle of her back, almost the same length. Her eyes were almost the same shape as his as well as her cute, little up turned nose. If she had to guess, they were probably related in some form.

Julie had the feeling she had seen this Vampiress before and tried to think back when. Aro had been with a group of Vampires when they first met and soon she remembered that this young woman was amongst them.

She was flashing her a gorgeous smile that would light up the night sky to make it seem like morning. Her smile very much reminded her of Aro too and it made her that more anxious to find out where he is, what was going on and why this lady was here in his place.

When Julie tried to make a run for it, obviously the female Vampire was too fast for her and immediately caught her in her deceptively fragile looking, slender arms. She was making shushing noises and was stroking Julie's hair again. She whimpered in response and continued to struggle but all she achieved was to make her muscles ache with exhaustion.

"Μην φοβάστε από μένα κοριτσάκι. Ο αδερφός μου θα είναι πίσω σύντομα." (Do not be scared of me, little girl. My brother will be back soon.) she murmured against the back of Julie's head as she finally slumped against the other female's body. Her voice, also much like Aro's, was beautiful to listen too. So alluring and soothing, like a flute playing softly in the background. "Εγώ δεν θα σας βλάψει, το υπόσχομαι." (I will not hurt you, I promise.)

"Where's Aro?" Julie gasped, wiggling free from the woman's arms and returning to her bed. She shrunk back against the rough, dirty planks that constructed the walls, "Why isn't he here? Where did he go?" She didn't know why she was bothering to ask, it was clear that this woman spoke in the same tongue as her Vampire companion and therefore didn't understand a word she was saying. However, the Vampiress smiled at her with sympathy.

"Didyme." the female Vampire placed her hand upon her chest and patted herself to emphasize, "Didyme." she repeated, continuing to smile encouragingly. She then pointed to Julie and said, "Julie." then back to herself, "Didyme."

Julie pinched her brows together slightly and nodded. This woman was introducing herself and obviously knew her name, assuming Aro told her before he went away. She didn't bother repeating this woman's name back though, clearly not in the mood to learn the correct pronunciation at the moment.

That was her and Aro's thing. No one else's and the ridiculous reasoning behind it both angered and confused her. Not to mention her heart was pumping chaotically within her at the thought that Aro had abandoned her.

But what bothered her the most was that she was scared and felt sorrow at the assumption that he didn't want to be around her anymore.

"Aro." she whispered before she suddenly burst into tears. She was alone again, she was back to square one and like her life in the future, she had nothing to make living worth while. Not that she was interested in dying, that would be idiotic, it was more that the only one that made her existence seem something to look forward to was now gone. Why? She didn't know and it felt as though she would never know.

The woman named 'Didyme' was sitting beside her now and whispering gentle, meaningless words that she supposed was met for comfort.

* * *

><p>Aro frowned to himself as he stared down at the place where, according to Caius' mind, 'the Beast' had been seen last. He was sure this was the place however the Beast was no where to be seen.<p>

Some strange markings were on the ground like the tracks that a snake would make as it slithered away, only much larger. Infact there were two of them and traveling in the same distance apart, leading away from the spot that it was last found in and off towards direction that he came.

However, Aro wasn't interested enough in this Beast to spend too much time investigating why it was here and where it was heading. He had to get back to Julie before she found out he was gone. He did promise never to leave her alone again after all and technically he didn't. After the confrontation with Caius, Didyme came to visit in the early hours of the morning and he convinced her to watch over his mate while he went to see what all the fuss was about. His sister of course was reluctant to at first, given she only came by to resolve the conflict in her coven but who was she to refuse family?

Also Aro had been a Vampire longer than Didyme and her control wasn't as refined as his yet. She wasn't as wild as she was in her newborn years but he was worried due to the enticing scent of Julie's blood, that Didyme will not be able to keep control for an extended period of time.

As soon as he arrived back at the Inn, he picked up the sound of a human female sobbing and he headed straight for the room he shared with his mate. At first he wasn't entirely sure if it really was Julie crying but as he drew nearer, it was definitely coming from his room and his frozen heart ached guiltily.

He just had a feeling it was because of him.

* * *

><p>Julie was now weeping freely into Didyme's shoulder, her whole small body shaking with her sobs. She felt vulnerable and as soon the the other female in the room held out her arms to Julie, she fell into them, desperate for some form of comfort.<p>

She was crying so hard that she barely registered the door opening and the sound of Aro's voice floating to her ears. He sounded shocked and his voice was rising with each word he spoke.

The human girl lifted her head hopefully and as soon as her eyes confirmed that she wasn't imagining his presence, she tore herself away from Didyme and launched herself at Aro. She threw her arms around his waist and hung onto him for dear life.

"You bastard." she sobbed into his chest, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

* * *

><p>There was a flower crown sitting upon Julie's head as she was lead throughout the busy streets of the city by Aro's hand. After spending about half an hour calming her down with words of his ancient language and the running of his cool hands up and down her back soothingly, it was then he placed it on her head. A woven band of small, fragile looking flowers that Julie had never seen before and was sure were probably non-existent in her time.<p>

Didyme had left, but not without kissing the girl on the cheek and tittering something happily in a affectionate manner. She then turned to hug Aro and giggled out a few words to him before disappearing out the window.

She had gotten into the habit of moving in so close to Aro that the length of his arm was firmly pressed up against Julie's front. The girl was well aware that she was coming off as 'clingy' but given her abandonment scare that morning, she felt she was entitled to be. His absence made her realise just how much she depended upon his presence. Without him she had nothing. She would be lonely and lost in a time that was unfamiliar to her. He made her feel happy and safe, like there was nothing to worry about. She discovered that she liked his company and would be horribly depressed if she was forced to go without it.

And she had only known this man for a couple of days.

It was then she found herself climbing up a small flight of steps into a large, squarish building that looked to be made of white stone with pillars situated upon the corners. It was like something seen out of a history book on Ancient Greece.

Wait. Ancient Greece!

Julie's heart began to thump excitedly at her revelation, she now had a much firmer idea where and when she currently resided in and momentarily wondered why Curtis chose this time period. What was he hoping to achieve by sending her here?

She refocused upon Aro who met up with an old, human man who was dressed in robes of pure white and gave the air of someone who had some sort of authority. The old man was looking from Aro to Julie in bewilderment and gestured towards her in a disapproving manner. However, her Vampire was persistent and was talking to him imploringly, also gesturing towards her and pulling her close to him.

Julie allowed herself to be brought in so close to Aro that her front was now flush against his in a position that could only be described as looking like a couple. The old man continued to eye Aro suspiciously before he eventually nodded and waved his hand, signalling for the two to follow him.

What was going on? Why were they here?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Present day<strong>_

_**24th of December, 2014  
>8:01pm<strong>_

"You can go now, Curtis."

Curtis looked up at his visitor resentfully who was standing clear across the parking lot. The inventor of the Time Machines was sitting in his Dual Cab and was glaring at him from behind the wheel. It had been a couple of days and it was torture having to literally sit and do absolutely nothing. He wasn't even allowed to go out and hunt because his Volturi Visitor was paranoid that he would try to pull something sneaky.

And if given the chance, he bloody well would have.

He thought about shouting all sorts of obscene things but he was much too eager to get going and track down Julie.

Curtis switched on the engine, downloaded the current date and time of the Slave vehicle in the past and went off on his merry way. According to his records, the RAV4 had not moved since the last time he checked.

The displacement had more of an impact with the Dual Cab than the RAV4. When it disappeared it left behind a vast amount of light that turned the small town of Norwood into a white expanse of nothingness for a few seconds. It spooked the animals, setting off a loud chorus of howls and screeches of fright. Any human who happened to be out that evening suspected a powerful flash of lightening before they checked that again, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The equivalent to 3rd of August, 1260 BC<strong>_  
><em><strong>4:41am<strong>_  
><em><strong>(Two hours prior to Aro's arrival)<strong>_

A black Nissan Navara Dual Cab materialized in the same area that the RAV4 appeared in a couple of days prior. The forest reacted exactly they way their modern counterparts did, some fleeing the scene while others squawked and snarled in protest. The Master came to a slow stop precisely next to the place were the Slave currently resided, it's engine purring softly and the headlights still on.

If this was any other car that was running on an ordinary battery, it would have run out of power ages ago. Curtis was no fool though, he had seen the 'Back to the Future' movies that his employee adored so much and learned from Doc Brown's mistakes. However he had never seen 'Doctor Who' and had no intention to since Julie once commented how much he looked like David Tennant.

He was a 900 year old Vampire and he came from a time where having superstitions were a fact of life. One of the superstitions he was raised to believe was seeing one's doppelganger meant that you were going to die soon.

Although he was a man of science now and it wasn't logical to believe such a thing, old habits die hard.

Curtis stepped out of his vehicle, came upon the leafy low canopy that housed the Slave and approached it slowly, sniffing the air. Julie's scent was still present upon it but he also detected that of a couple of Vampires. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at the RAV4, tutting softly as he withdrew his left hand from his person and placed it upon the bonnet.

"You bad girl!" he huffed, using his right to wag a finger at it as if scolding a child, "How dare you cut out on Julie? Don't try to deny it, the Master registered as much when I checking in on her progress!" To anyone who was around to see such a display would have thought Curtis had lost his marbles to be yelling at a inanimate object. This was another one of his bad habits he acquired when he started to invent things to sell through his line of business. It was particularly strange when he behaved this way with his computers. On more than one occasion his employees witnessed him stroking the monitor lovingly when it ran a program better than he expected. Julie had often joked that if he loved his inventions so much, then he should marry them to which he replied, 'Don't be silly, sweetheart. Machines are so frigid!'

Speaking of observers, Curtis had the feeling that he was being watched at that very moment. He sniffed the air and this time detected the scent of two other Vampires, one that had been near the RAV4 before.

He hurried over to the Dual Cab and got inside, programming the car computer to remotely take control of the RAV4 as well as make it follow the Master's path when commanded. Before he could make it to drive out of it's hiding place, he looked up and saw the owners of the scent standing several meters away from him.

They were both male, one with shoulder length, silvery, straight blonde hair while the other had long, wavy brunette locks that ended just below his shoulders. The second was taller of the two and was staring at the Dual Cab with a look of confusion and awe. The blonde was gesturing towards the scene angrily as if to say, 'I told you so!'

Curtis never took his eyes off them as his hand raised towards the keyboard and began to type in some instruction for the RAV4 to obey. The said vehicle beeped two times to confirm the Master's request and automatically drove it's self out onto the dirt road and parked it's self upon the side to await further instructions.

He told Julie the fact that the RAV4 was an automatic transmission was not relevant but in reality, that was a lie. To remotely control a vehicle, the Master had to be within the same time period and a certain distance of the Slave. A vehicle with an automatic transmission was compatible to this feature of his because such transmission shifted the gears for the driver, a manual transmission needed someone to shift the gears for it. To remotely control a automatic car instead of a manual just worked better with this principle.

The blonde grabbed onto his companion's arm warningly, silenced by the display while the brunette muttered something that Curtis' hearing picked up and identified as Ancient Greek. Of the BC era.

Poor ol' Julie. She never stood a chance.

"Πού είναι η Julie?" (Where is Julie?) Curtis asked them and although they were a fair distance away from each other, normally requiring a human to shout, Vampires could carry on a conversation at regular volume.

The brunette looked taken aback, astonished no doubt that someone as odd looking as Curtis could speak their tongue. The blonde one stepped forward to answer, seeing as a look of comprehension was apparent upon his face.

"You are known to our brother's mate?" he replied, raising a brow suspiciously. Curtis frowned at this latest update concerning his bestfriend. Yes, he knew who these people were. They are the younger counterparts of the Volturi from his time. And Caius was just as irritating as he is in the future.

Some things never change.

Curtis' eyes widened slightly and a growl erupted from deep within his throat. Although this really didn't come as a shock to him, he still didn't like hearing it. "Out of all the men in the world, why did you have to go for the crazy one, Julie?"

The future dweller obviously did not like Aro for a number of reasons. Reasons that were more personal than that that were common with his kind back in his time. The man was more of a control freak than what people gave him credit for.

And Julie was a very impressionable young lady.

"Πού είναι?" (Where is she?) Curtis' face darkened, his hand that had been tapping on the keyboard, controlling the RAV4 was now flying over it at top speed. The RAV4 beeped twice once more and was revving it's engine in response to the Master's command.

Caius' gaze shifted over to the car that he referred to as 'the Beast'. It was apparent on his face that he felt uneasy at the mere sight of it. But nevertheless, he stuck out his chin in defiance and said, "Δεν ξέρω." (I do not know.)

Curtis pulled the handbrake of his Dual Cab but began to rev his own engine in unison with the RAV4 threateningly. He knew being run over by a car would not hurt a Vampire in the slightest, but these Ancient ones didn't know that.

"Έχετε μια ευκαιρία. Πού είναι η Julie; Ενημερώστε. Εμένα. Τώρα." (You have one more chance. Where is Julie? Tell. Me. Now.) he snarled, his foot absolutely flooring it but still the Dual Cab and the RAV4 remained stationary. The smell of burning rubber began to fill the air as the noses of the vehicle twitched upward. A sign that the vehicle was trying to move but the brakes wouldn't allowed it... not until Curtis released the command to deactivate them of course.

Caius looked up at Marcus as if to silently ask for help. However he was met with the same baffled and troubled look that was mirrored upon his own face. Curtis knew they were feeling conflicted, either stay loyal to their coven mate or save their own skins from an unknown threat.

"Βρείτε της τον εαυτό σας." (Find her yourself.) it was Marcus that spoke and Curtis shook his head at him. Back in his time, Marcus was dead to the world. He hardly showed emotion or any interest in his surroundings since the death of his mate. Seeing him so... normal... was strange.

"Μπορείτε ανόητοι." (You fools) he muttered in disgust. They were loyal to the point of sheer stupidity. In the future, Aro was sure to get the most power, the best of everything and greatest advantages. His so called co-leaders got whatever was left over. Nothing was equal.

The RAV4 thundered forth, already reaching top speed within a few seconds because of all the revving before it's brake was released. He drove the vehicle directly towards the two future Leaders of the Volturi just to have them flit away at the last minute.

Curtis sent out the command for the Slave to slow down and stop and once it came to a complete halt, he drove the Master up to it's side, "Well then, we'll have to find her ourselves."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8: The fading photograph**

"Αν αυτή η γυναίκα δεν μπορεί να μιλήσει τη γλώσσα μας, πώς ξέρεις ότι θέλει να παντρευτεί?" (If this woman cannot speak our language, how do you know that she wishes to be married?)

Normally the Holyman of the Humans would not care to know such things. Human females were not considered as important as the Human males in their society. They were mere tools to be used for reproduction and widely believed that they were the weaker sex. But being that Aro was a male Vampire and Julie was a female Human, the Holyman obviously didn't see how such a interracial marriage would be a successful one. As far as he was concerned, their coupling had no status, any offspring they bore (if it was even possible) would not be recognised as valid by their Gods.

Of course, this was all based on the assumption that Aro intended to keep his wife-to-be a Human.

Aro and Julie had been taken to stand infront of an Altar. It was a closed off area, the only light in the room was provided by the various candles that lined the four walls in three rows. It set off a mildly eerie glow to compliment the strong smell of white sage that burned in a brass bowl as a small bundle of off white leaves in the middle of the table. The Holyman was on one side of the table while the couple was standing on the opposite end, their backs facing the entrance.

Aro was gripping Julie's small waist, keeping her pressed up against his side while the girl herself turned her head this way and that worriedly. The Vampire had the impression she was starting to catch on and honestly it made him feel uneasy. It never really occurred to him that forcing her unknowingly into a marriage was a bad thing because he strongly believed he could make her happy.

When he first met her, Marcus, who had the talent of identifying bonds/relationships, told Aro that Julie was the one for him. The Gods saw fit to bring her to him and he should snatch her up while he still could. He, himself felt incredibly drawn to her and given that she didn't seem all that afraid of him, she must have felt it in some form too.

She belonged to him as much as he belonged to her.

Julie muttered something typically unintelligible to Aro questioningly to which he responded by raising a hand to silence her. Oh yes, she was getting suspicious.

Aro suddenly smiled in a somewhat ominous manner. He was a Vampire and everything he was drew his victim in to do his bidding. Not even a Holyman could resist obeying him.

He then extended the hand that had been used to quiet down Julie's soft protests and wiggled his fingers, "Επιτρέψτε μου να σας δείξει πώς το ξέρω." (Let me show you how I know.)

The Holyman rose an eyebrow at Aro but nevertheless obeyed his request, he extended his own hand for the Vampire to take. As soon as his icy digits made contact with the Human's frail skin, Aro's face froze momentarily before the smirk reappeared and widened knowingly.

This Holyman wasn't so holy afterall.

"αμάν." (Oh dear) he began to chuckle as he withdrew his hand and brought Julie closer to his body protectively. His hands pressed ugently into her flesh and she visibly winced from the overly tight grip he had upon her. If only she knew it was for a very good reason, "Θα σας κάνει μια προσφορά, θα εκτελέσει την τελετή του γάμου μας, χωρίς πια ερωτήσεις και εγώ δεν θα σας σκοτώσει." (I will make you an offer, you perform our marriage ceremony without anymore questions and I won't kill you.)

The Holyman frowned, looking thoroughly offended, "Πώς τολμάς-" (How dare you-)

"Πώς τολμάς να βιάζουν αμέτρητες νεαρές γυναίκες γιατί τους έκανε να πιστεύουν ότι είχαν κατέχεται από το διάβολο και να τους καθαρίσει, θα έπρεπε να κρατήσει επαφή μαζί σας?" (How dare _you_ rape countless young women because you made them believe they were possessed by the Devil and to cleanse them, they had to hold intercourse with you?)

The old Human male's face suddenly went pale. No doubt wondering how Aro would know such things about him. Secrets that he was determined to take with him to his grave and in the mean time continue to get away with. Aro had seen in this filthy charlatan's memories that most of these girls were around Julie's age and desperate for help. The Holyman knew very well that these women weren't possessed at all and yet he happily took advantage of them.

Furthermore, it was traditional for the Holyman to verify that the woman the Groom was marrying was still a virgin. But Aro would be damned if he allowed this animal anywhere near his mate. His memories also confirmed that he deflowered the Brides during the examination thus supplying the Grooms with 'damaged' goods.

The Holyman stared at the Vampire in silence for the longest time, Aro stared right back at him, looking comfortably smug. If he had a choice, he would seek out someone else to marry them but he didn't want to waste anymore time in search for another in a neighbouring city. He didn't know why he felt this way, but something told him that it's now or never.

"Πολύ καλά." (Very well.)

* * *

><p>When the old man left the room, it was then Julie attempted to speak again, "Aro?"<p>

The Vampire looked down at her with gentle eyes, "Julie?"

She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. Again, it didn't matter what she said because he wasn't going to understand her. However, after carefully observing what had been going on only moments before, she was sure Aro had threatened the old man. She didn't know why this had to happen but something told her that he didn't really have a choice.

Julie was no idiot though, looking around the room she was sure this had to be some sort of ancient religious institute. Like a Church or a Temple of some such. She was raised a Catholic primarily by her mother although she wasn't exactly a devout believer herself. Nevertheless, as a child, she would drag Julie to Church sometimes and the more she thought about it, the more similar each setting looked. There was an altar, candles, a chalice and some sort of religious idol built into the wall of a man that definitely wasn't Jesus Christ. Most likely it was one of the many Gods and Goddesses that the Ancient Greeks worshipped.

So, it was definitely a BC era she currently resided in and the more she thought about it, the more daunting it was. Every single living thing that existed from the time she was from weren't even born yet and won't be for thousands of years. Their ancestors had to be walking around now, the future generations depending solely upon their survival during this time.

In the first 'Back to the Future' movie, Marty McFly was accidentally sent to 1955. During his time there, he endangered his own existence by interfering with his parents first meeting. If he didn't rectify the situation as soon as possible, he would literally fade from existence. Needless to say it all worked out in the end but Julie was not Marty. She was not in 1955 but several centuries before and who knows? She could be endangering her own future by simply being here.

She looked up at Aro and wondered if he still existed in her time. If so he would be thousands of years old and most likely have seen it all. How horrible it would be to go through eternity on one's own... unless he found someone during those years. By her time he could be happily married to someone else-

Something seized up painfully in her chest at the thought of Aro belonging to someone else... and she didn't quite understand why. They barely spoke a comprehensible word to each other, only been in his presence for a couple of days and what she knew about him all boiled down to what she had observed. The most she knew about him was that his name was 'Aro', he was a Vampire and drank human blood.

Also he was protective of her, he got her food when she was hungry and a place to sleep. He kept her company and always seemed gentle and almost... loving towards her.

And now she understood why it hurt her heart to think of him being with another.

The old man was back and she noticed this from the far corner of her peripheral vision. He looked to be reading from a long scroll to which he was chanting in a monotone like voice, almost singing if one could call it that. His crackly, raspy tones were low and even if he were saying it all in english, she couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

However the entire time she was looking up at Aro and he was looking back down at her. She had been gazing at him for so long that she could almost see how many shades of red his eyes were. She also noticed that there were tiny steaks of gold among the crimson and how the irises perfectly surrounding that black pupil in the middle.

She then focused upon his skin, the colour and the texture. He had faint signs of wrinkles or marks of 'character' and if she had to guess what age he was turned, he was probably 36 or 37... 39 at the most. His skin was pale but it was more of the greyish blue side of pale maybe. Almost pearly or luminiscent in the darkened room.

Her eyes then started to take in every angle of curve of his face. His chin was more rounded than sharply angled like his jawline. He really did look like a Greek statue with the strong shape of his perfectly noble, turned up nose and the hollows that housed those eyes. His lips seemed redder than they should be against his bloodless complexion but still incredibly attractive. So attractive that her own mouth began to twitch, wanting to bring them up to press against his... just to see what it would be like to kiss a God.

For only a God could look as perfect as Aro did.

Julie's hand automatically reached up to run her fingers through his hair of darkest brown, looking black in the lowly lit altar. He purred against her touch and her heart broke at the sound. The sensation of the soft strands parting effortlessly through her digits only amplified the agony in her chest. He even felt like heaven as well as looked and sounded like it.

"I used to wonder..." she began and Aro ceased his purring immediately the moment she opened her mouth. And that was another thing, even though she couldn't speak his language, he nevertheless seemed to listen to her as if whatever she had to say, his life depended on hearing it. Oh God. "I used to wonder how someone could travel back through time and ever go back to living normally. How they could ever stay sane once they experienced it and never do it again." he was smiling at her, like he was content to simply listen to her and it just made everything ten times worse. Her voice began to crack but she forced herself to continue. She had to get this off her chest. "If I ever return back to my time, I can promise you it will be against my will. After knowing you, Aro (he blinked at the mention of his name), I don't want to go back. My life in the future... it's empty! I have nothing. I have no one.

"Since coming here, I finally have something to look forward to and that is seeing you. But being a Vampire, I know you are immortal and if you are still around in the 21st century... I'm afraid to know how you would be." her hand came to rest upon his chest and began to lightly trace the parting of his tunic, an off white to sort of beige in colour lined in dark red. He placed his hand over hers and used his thumb to stroke the back of her hand tenderly. "I just hope, whoever you end up with in the future, they better be good to you."

* * *

><p>"Και με τη δύναμη που επενδύονται μέσα μου από το υψηλό και ισχυρό βασιλιά των θεών, ο Δίας, εγώ μετεγγραφή σου άντρα και τη γυναίκα. Μπορεί η βασιλεία των ουρανών ευλογήσει την ένωση εσύ και αναγκάσει να παραμείνει εις τον άλλον για πάντα." (And with the power invested within me by the high and mighty King of Gods, Zeus, I dub thee husband and wife. May the kingdom of heaven bless thou union and compel to remain unto each other forever.)<p>

As soon as the Holyman left the room, it was then Aro pulled Julie close to him and she in turn clung to him. As he looked down at her, his new little wife looked so vulnerable and sad. He never wished more than now he could read her mind and chase away anything that was bothering her. Whatever she was worried about, he wanted to make her feel like it was no longer relevant. Her problems became his problems and Aro always had a way of making complications go away.

"Δεν χρειάζεται να ανησυχείτε πια, αγάπη μου. Δεν χρειάζεται να είναι μόνος για άλλη στιγμή. Είμαι δικός σας όπως σας είναι δικά μου και εγώ θα είναι πάντα μαζί σας, τη σύζυγό μου." (You do not have to worry anymore, my love. You do not have to be alone for another moment. I am yours as you are mine and I will always be with you, my wife.) he whispered to her and every muscle in his human spouse's body relaxed at the sound of his voice.

He began to lean forward towards her, his hand came up to cradle the back of her head with his thumb resting just underneath her jaw to hold her still. She tilted her head up towards him, her eyes slowly drifting shut as his mouth descended upon hers.

The moment his lips touched hers, _everything_ changed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okie dokie, for those of you who are avid fans of the BTTF, you would probably recognize the significance of this chapter's title. 'The fading photograph' is in reference to the actions of Marty and Doc whenever they mess with history ie. the family photo, newspaper clippings, the tombstone etc.**

**Because Julie marries a person that exists in the past and well into the future, history, of course, changes. If they had a photograph depicting what was supposed to happen, it would fade or change to reflect their decisions.**

**Just thought you all might find that interesting :)**


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Just thought you all oughta know in this chapter there is going to be a bit of sauce in a pot. If you catch my meaning ;)

If it is not your speed, you maybe better off skipping this chapter.

Anywho, have fun ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: When in Rome<strong>

The weather overlooking the city of Athens went from a calm, sunny afternoon to a dark and very cloud display. The sudden shift of the elements did not make sense. It was if the clouds materialised out of nowhere casting shadows over the population and depriving colour. As soon as the people noticed the slightly ominous goings on above their heads, it was then they quickly retreated into the confines to wait out what they referred to as 'the anger of the Gods'.

Several miles away, Curtis tapped the breaks of the Dual Cab, sending the RAV4 ahead of them. As per the standard back in the 21st century, most computers had webcams and the Time Machines were no different. There were wireless cameras installed all over the vehicle but of course none in the Master version, only the Slave. Curtis had been reviewing the footage captured by the RAV4 and saw that upon entry, Julie had stayed with the Time Machine for a good fifteen minutes before she ran off to find help.

She never came back.

Yes, Curtis could have programmed the Master to materialise right after Julie, like she clearly assumed he would according to the footage but it would have interfered with the plan. A plan he was glad not to take credit for.

It was then he noticed how much the sky darkened and he became extremely uneasy. He left the motor running, got out of the car and looked upwards. The sound of thunder soon followed as the dark gray blanket of smokey expanse slithered slowly overhead in lumps. Rolling in to cover up the bright blue of it's predecessor.

His dark brows pinched together in concern, running his fingers through his thick head of dark, wind swept spikes. He let out a low growl, shaking his head at the sight.

"My God, Julie. What have you done?"

* * *

><p>"Wow, it looks like it's going to rain."<p>

"Τι είπες?" (What did you say?)

Julie looked up at Aro, who had leaned in towards her tentatively like someone who didn't hear her the first time. Well, now was as good as time as any to learn to communicate so she started to simplify.

"Rain." she said, bringing her head forward and speaking a little louder.

"R-aye-n?" Aro questioned and Julie grinned at his attempt at English. He was rather cute now that he was trying to copy her.

Julie, who had been holding his hand, withdrew it from his grasp and began miming rain falling down from the sky. She wiggled her fingers as she waved her hand up and down, raking the air, "Rain." she repeated pointedly and Aro simply stared at her for a moment before blinking, his lips forming an 'oh'.

"βροχή." he smiled at her and nodded, copying her mime of rain, "Rain. βροχή."

"Vho-key?" it was now her turn to sound like an idiot as she tried to learn his language. He didn't nod nor shake his head, merely waiting for her to sound the word out more appropriately, "Vrochí̱?"

"βροχή." he repeated with a nod, hopefully indicating she got the pronunciation right. "Rain."

They had been standing out on the steps of the Temple, clearly the only ones that hadn't moved to get undercover yet. The streets of Athens looked almost deserted now, only some stray animals consisting of poultry, an assortment of small mammals and donkeys remained.

It was then Aro placed his arm around Julie's shoulders and moved to lead her away from the place. As soon as their feet touched the ground, it was then the Vampire swept her up into his arms and hurried away with her. The girl's hand clung tightly around the cold immortal's neck for stability as the rain and thunder chased after them.

But as it would seem, not even a Vampire could out run nature and by the time they got back to their room, they were pretty much soaked through.

Julie let out a soft squeal as Aro finally placed her back on the ground and closed the door behind them. She turned to see how badly he was drenched and was immediately green with envy.

Aro was of course all wet as well but while Julie resembled a drowned 'Cousin It', her Vampire companion looked as though he was modelling for one of those racy magazines. He had removed his outer robes leaving behind a long chiton that hung from his frame in a rather enticing manner. The damp material of the top clung to his muscular body making it look as though it were painted on. The rain drops upon his person made softly glittering trails down his marble like flesh and his long, raven hair was combed wetly out of his face like he resurfaced from taking a brief dip in the pool.

He was chuckling at her and she promptly turned red. Aro had caught her staring and she would like nothing better but to disappear into the floor right then and there. She wasn't used to this, being in the company of someone so outrageously enchanting. To be fair, Curtis was quite comely himself but Aro was something else altogether.

She was made aware of some insistent tugging upon her dress which brought her completely out of her thoughts. Aro was attempting to undo the primitive fastening around the waist of her gown and she immediately stepped back, shaking her head. The Vampire shook his head right back at her and went to reach for her dress again.

"Θα πρέπει να γδυθεί για να μην αρρωστήσετε!" (You must disrobe lest you get sick!) he said in an urgent manner, successfully loosening the tie around her waist. Before Julie could say another word, her dress fell away from her and Aro gathered it up at once along with his own clothing.

Julie was back down to her bra and panties but at least she wasn't the only one in her underwear anymore as it would seem. He was down to his loincloth and her blush deepened a shade as she stared, transfixed as he went to hang up their clothing to dry upon the window sill. His legs were long and shapely with a pair of powerful thighs and well defined calves.

What did she ever do to deserve to be within close vicinity of such a lovely creature? There had to be some mistake.

* * *

><p>Aro was smirking to himself the moment he turned back around from the window and caught his little wife staring again. Her large, dark brown eyes drinking in the sight of him in curious awe. Her dark pink lips parted in a gasp, clearly not believing what she was witnessing.<p>

The Vampire knew all too well what his appearance did to humans who dared look upon his supernatural beauty. Their eyes clouded over with lust or jealousy, the increase in heart rate and the sudden onset of feelings of attraction often mistaken for love. He wasn't going to lie, he often used this to his advantage whilst hunting and even enjoyed it.

But not this time.

Julie was looking unsure of herself, almost sad. Whenever she looked this way, Aro didn't need to read her mind because her emotions were painfully apparent upon her sweet, little face.

She was feeling inadequate.

In a flash, he came to her, taking her small, fragile human body into his arms and cradling her lovingly against his chest. He purred against her and whatever tenseness his Bride had been experiencing was melting away beneath his frosty touch.

Speaking of temperature, his wife's skin was warm, a bit too warm to be normal and Aro became worried. Julie was also quivering all over and he feared that maybe he didn't get her clothes off in time. His blood red gaze came to settle upon the covering over her breasts and her womanhood and saw that those articles were also too damp to be worn. Before he went to take them off, it was then he was hit with a scent that made him doubt that her sudden temperature flare and shakes had anything to do with being sick.

It was the smell of arousal. More specifically, _her_ arousal.

Aro let out a soft sound between a purr and a moan of approval. It set off his own desire to which came in the form of a sudden hardening of his member beneath his loincloth.

Gods.

He bent his head down, intending to kiss her for encouragement. To let her know that she pleased him very much and she didn't have to worry. But his wife got there first.

Her chin was already raised and the moment he tilted his head towards her, her mouth captured his in a heated kiss. A kiss that got him growling sensuously low in his throat for more.

Aro's arms tightened possessively around her until her delicate breasts were crushed up against his rock hard chest. His rapidly stiffening manhood was jabbing firmly into her abdomen to which he could not resist rocking his hips shamelessly. She was letting out her own little noises of want in the form of soft moans and shuddering gasps. Her small hands tangling themselves into his moist tresses and pulling him closer.

But what she did next completely shocked him.

Her lips felt so soft and moved so hypnotically with his that when she nipped lightly at his lower lip, his jaw gave way enough for her to insert her tongue into his mouth.

A move that he was not familiar with at all.

He jumped backwards slightly in astonishment. Where did she learn to do that?! _Why_ was she doing that?

Julie's eyes were half lidded and her hands were exactly where they had been before Aro pulled away suddenly. They were left in the air for a moment or two before his little human finally realised he was absent and she blinked owlishly at him, her face falling. No doubt wondering what she had done wrong.

On the contrary, Aro didn't think she did anything wrong at all. It was just... different. He had never had a tongue in his mouth before and now that he thought about it, it was sort of fascinating. Titillating.

Sexy.

Aro returned to his wife's side, pulling her back against him and purring apologetically against her forehead, "Forgive me, beloved. It is alright now, I wish to try this with you too." he whispered to her, running his hands up and down her smooth arms and rocking his hips suggestively against her again. When she didn't respond, no doubt feeling too humiliated by his accidental rejection, it was then Aro decided to imitate what she had been trying to do.

He tenderly lifted her chin upwards, his eyes staring adoringly into her dark orbs as he descended towards her lips. His tongue darted out to which he faintly swept along her lower, requesting entrance. His strokes soon became more determined, desperate to repair the damage to her confidence that he caused.

When her mouth finally opened up enough, he immediately slithered inside and lapped at her tongue. This time it sent zings of desire down his spine like wild fire directly to his groin as she responded, moving her own tongue against his in a sensual mating dance.

Aro then pulled away from his newly wed mate with a soft peck to her lips. She was left whimpering and reaching for him to which he had to gently refuse her. For now.

It was about time he claimed his prize.

He placed one arm underneath her torso, the other beneath the back of her knees and carried her swiftly towards the bed. The Vampire carefully laid down his mate upon the bed before climbing up after her. He flashed her a wicked grin as his hand came to rest just under the swell of her left breast, teasingly fluttering his fingers up and over the soft curve. He then abruptly pulled down the offending cup that concealed her supple mound and swooped in for attack.

He took her pinkish, caramel coloured peak into his mouth and began sucking hungrily, careful not to allow his teeth to scrap her skin lest he be tempt to bite her. He could clearly hear her delicious smelling blood pumping madly just below the surface of her lightly, tanned flesh. This scent was mixed with her even more delectable arousal juices flowing from her core and dampening her lower under covering.

There was some movement from his little human lover which involved the slight rising of her chest, a soft click and the rustling of material. Julie began to push Aro away by the shoulders and before he could wonder why, he saw it was because she was trying to remove the covering from her breasts. Once free, she tossed it onto the ground beside the bed and held her arms out to her husband to which he immediately fell back into the embrace.

The feeling of those lovely, bare breasts he admired so pressed into his chest as he kissed her was incredible. So warm and so soft. It made him painfully aware of how he himself was so very aroused and how much he wanted to get out of what little clothing he had on.

Her gasps and moans were gradually beginning to increase in volume, fanning the flames of hot desire within his frozen body. He purred and growled lustfully in response as he came down and began to resuming kissing and suckling on her breast, this time with the other. Her fingers clawed helplessly at his scalp although it felt more like the light caress of a breeze. The girl was so responsive to him and a man loved nothing more than a woman that was not afraid to lose control.

When he began to bring a hand down to part her thighs, it was then he withdrew from the bounty that was his wife with an annoyed snarl.

* * *

><p>Julie was in a daze, her entire body buzzing with need at the cool yet enticing touch of her Vampire lover. His lips stroking her flesh, his tongue lapping at her tender skin and his hands running over her body in such a way that got her writhing ceaselessly underneath him.<p>

When her hands slid away from his hair and began to move down to work on removing her panties for him, a rather angry snarl suddenly erupted from him. She whimpered in fear and immediately shrunk away from him, wondering what she had down to make him cross.

It was then she realised that he wasn't looking at her and instead stared furiously at the door of their room. He then just as abruptly leapt off the bed while she scrambled for the blankets, quickly covering herself up. Aro stalked towards the door and wrenched it open to reveal the entire group of Vampires he had been with at the time of their first meeting.

Her face promptly turned red and she hid herself ineffectually underneath said blankets.

* * *

><p>"How dare you interrupt us." he growled indignantly, staring daggers at Caius who was at the forefront of the small gathering.<p>

Upon seeing the state of undress that Aro was in, his sister and Athenodora immediately averted their eyes. Marcus bowed his head and stared at the ground while Caius merely looked him up and down incredulously. Their eyes then shifted to the small, shaking lump under the blankets and the blonde smirked while the brunette smiled sympathetically at Aro.

"This is important, brother." Caius quickly replied, taking alittle longer to take his eyes away from the clearly botched intimate scene behind Aro. "There are two of them now."

"Two of what?"

"The beasts! The second one is even bigger than the first!"

"Caius, I'm warning you-"

"It's true, Aro." Marcus interjected thoughtfully, raising a hand to gesture him to calm down, "One of them spoke to us."

"He was asking for your mate's whereabouts." Caius went on, jerking his head to the little female who was bravely beginning to emerge her head out from underneath the blankets before diving back under. She was murmuring something in a embarrassed tone which prompted Aro to return to her side.

"Did you tell-?"

"Of course not!" Caius replied, shaking his head feverishly, "We look after our own..." his eyes shifted back to Julie who's head had emerged once more from the covering to which Aro promptly bundled her up modestly beside him. He cooed at her, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. "When will she be changed, brother?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

"After the consummation." Aro replied cuddling her reassuringly against his side while she tucked her head underneath his chin, "I do not wish for my wife to go through the pain of transformation on the night of our Wedding."

There was an excited gasp from the female Vampires who looked at each other and grinned. Didyme immediately raced forward and kissed her brother upon the forehead, "I'm so happy for you, dearest! I finally have a sister of my own!" She sat down upon the opposite side of Julie and kissed her cheek, "Thank you, brother."

"Excuse me. I did not get her for you!" Aro said beginning to smile, holding Julie more tightly to his side, "She belongs to me, sister. Mine."

Meanwhile Julie was looking more baffled than embarrassed now and it wasn't long before one of them noticed. Athenodora pushed past Marcus and her husband with a package wrapped in white cloth. She knelt down to Julie and presented it to her for the little human to take.

"For you, small lady. A gift to welcome you to the family from your new sister and myself." she flashed Julie a smile to which the girl was no less than dazzled upon seeing it. However she clearly could not physically accept the package for if she tried, her blanket would fall away to reveal her nakedness. So Aro accepted it for her and opened it carefully.

Inside was a dress in a Goddess style of baby blue. The skirt was around knee length with the sleeves in a batlike design. There was a parting from the elbow to reveal a tantalising glimpse of the upper arm and shoulder. It had a scooping neckline that sat just before the curves of the bosom would be revealed.

Aro looked it over questioningly, no doubt his new wife would look rather attractive it in but the style was not of their land. "This dress, it is not Greek."

"No, I believe it is customary in Rome. Worn by only the most noble of humans." Didyme replied proudly, nodding at the female blonde who looked rather pleased with herself too.

"But why acquire a stola that is only suitable there?"

"Because that is where we are going."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Again apologies for the historical inaccuracies and huggles out to those who are having too much fun reading this to care! :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Languages other then English<br>**

"Rome is so far from Athens. Why must we go there?"

Julie was perched on Aro's back again, dressed in the attire that Athenodora and her new sister-in-law, Didyme acquired for her. They also had taken the liberty of doing up her long dark hair into an elegant bundle of knots behind her head, held together with golden bands. Her feet were finally rid of the black slippers and replaced with dark, golden sandles as per the standard in Rome. None of her original outfit remained, not even her underwear.

Aro was also adorned with a new set clothing stolen from a nearby stall courtesy of his coven brothers. His chiton a pure white with a long chlamys of deep red that matched his predatory eyes.

The rain had long since subsided, allowing the group to travel without having to consider the well being of Julie. It was now around midnight, the girl had fallen asleep upon her husband's back so Aro was careful to keep his voice at a low volume. He would have much rather stayed at the Inn and finish what they had started but alas his coven insisted on their immediate departure.

But as soon as he was alone with her-

"Surely brother, you have noticed the strong influence the Romanians have on our land? Furthermore if you are serious in keeping this human to copulate with then it would be in your best interests to keep her away from those Beasts." Caius stared suspiciously at Julie who was snoozing peacefully upon the dark haired man's shoulder blade. A puzzled expression replacing his trademark scowl out of the blue, "Why her?"

Aro was already growing bored with where this conversation was going. Before he was long used to Caius' business like relationship with their coven. He had incredible focus and would not do nor say anything that would not benefit them as a whole. But now his attitude towards his choice in mate was tiresome and to retaliate, he decided not to make it easy by feigning ignorance, "I do not understand."

"This girl is comely for a stranger," he admitted before returning his attention back to Aro, "But she greatly lacks in comparison to the beauties you have bedded in the past-"

"Ah but those were of our own kind." Aro retorted lightly, waving off such a shallow observation, "To compare my wife to such beings is like comparing the apple and the orange. There is no fairness and yet..." he turned his gaze towards Julie, eying her affectionately within his peripheral vision, "She is my Goddess. A beauty that would rival that of Aphrodite herself." He smirked over at his coven brother challengingly, "Are we finished now?"

Caius looked anything but finished with the conversation however decided to concede for now.

* * *

><p>"Julie, a 'Messiah'?"<p>

Curtis had just arrived in Athens and because he was a Vampire, people were surprisingly cooperative when he began questioning the whereabouts of his little employee. Of course he had to effectively describe her to them in ancient Greek, a language he had learned mere months prior to the completion of his reality defying inventions. Of course he had a photograph of her saved in his phone but he thought the appearance of his cars in these ancient times were enough of cock up from start to finish.

The interviews that consisted of recounts of a seeing a girl fitting Curtis' description riding on the back of another Vampire lead him to the Inn. The owner was at first reluctant to confirm the sighting until Curtis got desperate and did something he didn't normally do to a human.

He threatened him.

"Listen. I am _very_ tired and _very_ worried for my friend. I am this close to burning down this blasted place!" he ground out, irritation etched into his breathtakingly handsome face, "She answers to the name of 'Julie'. She is of small stature, has dark hair and eyes, may seem like she speaks funny-"

"Yes! She spoke in tongues!" the Inn Keeper confirmed with an enthusiastic nod, "She is surely a product of the divine-"

"Oh save it!" Curtis snapped, his temper rising by the moment as he turned around every now and again to check the welfare of the Time Machines. The cars were of course getting alot of curious stares from passersby and a small crowd was already forming around the area he had parked. "Where are they now?"

"They left earlier in the evening, sir. With a group of the male's kind."

"You haven't cleaned the room yet have you? May I see it please?"

The room was not especially messy but it still made Curtis stagger slightly in shock. He clearly made out the scent of Julie in the room but also that of another. A scent so disturbingly familiar that if he had blood running in his veins, it would be boiling. He came to the window sill where some articles of clothing was hanging half dry and the scent was confirmed.

Aro was with Julie.

His eyes caught the sight of the girl's bra and panties lying discarded on the ground and as he gathered it up, he detected the hint of her arousal fluids in the material.

Curtis' golden eyes widened slightly at the possibilities of what happened in this room. Nevertheless he quickly bundled it up along with clothing he found on the sill. He couldn't allow such futuristic garments to remain in the past. From the look of things, Curtis and Julie's presence was doing enough damage to the space time continuum as it was.

He turned back to the Inn Keeper who had been standing timidly at the doorway, watching him ransack the place. He approached him and leered at him menacingly, "Where did they go?" He didn't quite like acting so ruthless. It simply wasn't in his nature, not even when devising the best plans to overthrow his competitors in the market. His gift allowed him to do so without resorting to such brutal social tactics.

"I heard one of them saying something about Rome. You can purchase passage there by boat or go on foot but it will take quite a bit longer."

Curtis nodded then shoved past him, carrying the pile of clothing close to his chest. It maybe difficult to get to Rome quickly for the people of the past but not for this particular Vampire. Especially when said Vampire had Time Machines that can teleport to places instantly at his disposal.

* * *

><p>By morning light, Aro's coven had arrived at the docks of Igoumenitsa to where they were already loading up their merchant boats. Normally they would simply swim across the channel but seeing as Julie had joined them, they were forced to part company and go on ahead leaving Aro and his Bride behind.<p>

Aro lead Julie to one particular dock to which one merchant boat had the least cargo to carry. He promptly threatened the owner to allow them onboard and take them to Italy to which was met with compliance. As soon as they boarded, he took her to sit down upon the deck with him next to a large pile of sacks kept together with ropes.

Thankfully the goods this boat was shipping over was mostly made up of consumables. When he heard his wife's stomach rumble, he immediately tore into the nearest sack containing Peponi (honey dew melons) and fished out the biggest. As soon as he smashed it to pieces on the ground, there were protests from the sailors which got Aro snarling savagely in response.

No one was going to deny his wife something to eat.

As soon as the humans backed off, it was then he picked up a piece and began feeding it to her. However Julie ate very slowly and her tummy continued to make noises that got him worried. This was only amplified when he saw how pale his little human looked and the next thing he knew, she struggled out of his arms, threw her upper body over the rail and began to wretch.

Julie was a terrible sailor.

By the time the boat docked at Brindisi, Aro had to carry his very weak and very sea sick wife back onto land and guide her to sit down to rest near a Well. She leaned heavily against him, murmuring something pathetically that sounded like an apology. He smiled warmly down at her and nuzzled his nose against her sweaty forehead.

To him, she could do no wrong.

* * *

><p>"That is the last time I'm going on a boat!" Julie wheezed, slumping against Aro's arm bonelessly. She was covered in a cold sweat and her muscles ached mildly from all the vomiting but at least she was still alive.<p>

To distract herself from feeling sick, she decided to try to learn more of Aro's language. She forced her body to straighten and sit properly and poked her companion to get his attention. Once he looked to her, it was then she pointed at one of the boats on the dock and said, "Boat."

Aro, who must have expected it by now, nodded and said, "Buh-o-te?"

Julie offered a small smile but shook her head, "Bow-t. Boat."

"Boat." he smiled back at her and kissed the top of her head before pointing at the boats himself, "βάρκα."

"Fer-a-kah?"

"βάρκα."

"Várka."

"Ναι, βάρκα." (Yes, boat.)

Julie blinked groggily but sat up alittle more confidently, already starting to feel better now that she was concentrating on something else. "Ney?"

"Nαί."

"Nai?"

Aro nodded. She finally knew how to say 'yes'. A word that was more useful to her than 'rain' and 'boat'.

This went on for about an hour to which Julie and Aro learned from eachother. They successfully worked out which meant; 'No', 'Hello', 'Goodbye', 'Man', 'Woman' and all sorts of other phrases that enabled them to know things like where they were from, what their favourite colour was and their preferred way to travel.

By the time Aro's companions caught up with them, Julie was trying to convey to Aro what a car was. She was still feeling slightly off but was well enough to be standing and making wild, circular gestures to which she was trying to mime wheels.

"... there are 4 of them... τέσσερα(four)... wheels... you know... wheels?" she moved both of her hands round and round, imitating the movement of tyres. Aro watched her transfixed as she then began making noises like an engine. "Brum, brum!"

It was then Aro began to laugh at her hysterically. His whole body shook with his chuckles that admittedly sounded very pleasing, like a very smooth pluck of a chello. She was well aware she was making a complete arse of herself but surely she didn't look that ridiculous!

Did she?

"Once you know what a Car is, I would like to see you try to explain it to your lot without looking like a dummy!" she pouted indignantly, folding her arms as the other Vampires came to stand with Aro. He in turn got up and began to chat rather animatedly with them, no doubt talking about their conversation to which Julie wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing.

The female Vampires giggled while the males looked apprehensive. They seemed to know what Aro was trying to say without him attempting to copy Julie's miming of wheels. Infact the blonde one kept repeating a word angrily that made her begin to think twice about being so flamboyant with teaching methods. Not that she was any good at tutoring in the first place.

She wasn't quite sure what 'Thee-Leo' (θηρίο/thi̱río) meant but whatever it was, it got Aro approaching her with a look of concern on his face. He took hold of her forearms and lead her to sit back down by the Well.

* * *

><p>When Aro was telling his coven mates about Julie's explanation of a form of transport called a 'Kah', it was Caius who started snarling about that blasted Beast again. He accused his mate of describing that of what Marcus and he saw with the black and white creatures that demanded to know where the girl was. Worse he was saying that Julie was in league with it in some way to which Aro continually refused the possibility.<p>

"Ask her then!" Caius demanded, pointing over at her aggressively, "Ask her to describe it and you'll know I'm right!"

So here Aro was, sitting with his new wife and trying to convey to her what Caius wanted to know. Quite frankly, he didn't care for any of this Beast business but if it was going to shut him up, he needed to know too.

"Julie?" Aro prompted her and she nodded in response.

"Naí, Aro?" (Yes, Aro?) she was almost scared of where this was going because the look on his face was both worried and frustrated. She reached out and held his hand to which he squeezed it gently back fondly.

"Kah." he said and she knew that he was trying to say 'Car'. He then did something alarming when repeating the word that the blonde kept saying, "Kah, θηρίο?" he let go of her hand and began to mime what she thought was him trying to look scary. He bared his teeth, furrowed his brow and let out a soft growl.

It took Julie a moment to figure out what he was trying to say and when it hit her, she shook her head imploringly, "No - I mean - Óchi Óchi! Car is good. Like a Boat. Car βάρκα! βάρκα! Car is like a Boat. But no water. Óchi νερό!"

The blonde flitted to Aro's side to which he immediately stood up in his mate's defense. The blonde male shook his head, clearly rejecting Julie's explanation and repeating, "θηρίο!" over and over again.

"Óchi θηρίο!" (No beast.) Julie retorted loudly, getting to her feet and glaring up at the blonde, "Cars are not monsters, you tosser!"

"Φτάνει πια!" (Enough!) Aro shouted, making everyone who happened to be present or walking by at the docks stare at them. It must have been quite a comical sight to see a Vampire having a bitch fight with her over a Car. Besides which, Cars weren't going to be invented until sometime in the next couple of millennia-

Then it dawned upon her. Had this blonde seen the RAV4? It would definitely explain alot as to why he was so against the idea of a Car being harmless. If she were in his shoes, she supposed seeing something like a Car would confuse her to no end. Not to mention it would be downright frustrating to find that no one could explain what it was.

Granted, when she first started to learn how to drive, a Car was a scary thing... even the small, manageable ones looked intimidating to her.

"Look... erm..." she didn't know his name and looked to Aro for help but he was too busy staring the blonde down. The only other person she knew who may be kind enough to help her was the female Vampire she came to know as 'Didyme'.

She turned to the dark haired Vampire who caught her eye at once. She then held out her hand to her for which she immediately took, "Julie?" she said sounding very humble.

"Julie." the girl pointed at herself, "Didyme." she tapped the female Vampire lightly on her chest, "Aro." she placed a hand upon her main companion's arm before gesturing to the blonde male questioningly.

Didyme smiled and then nodded, "Caius." she answered and Julie grinned back at her for catching on as quickly as she did. She then moved to the two males who were bickering so fast that it sounded like white noise to her. She took a breath before stepping herself in between them.

"Caius," she began calmly, waving her hand impatiently, "There is Óchi θηρίο (no Beast). It's just a Car!"

* * *

><p>It was a bright and sunny morning and the breeze blew in a fresh new day for the people of what will in the future be known as the country of Italy.<p>

Just on the outskirts of Rome, a mighty flash of light manifested out of thin air infront of a small farm. The inhabitants of such a dwelling were startled out of their daily routine of feeding the animals when a black Dual Cab and a white RAV4 were seen racing down the dirt road. The roars of the engines spooked the cattle and got the chickens in the front yard cawing disapprovingly with a frantic flutter of their flightless wings.

The residents of the farm quickly retreated into their small dwelling as these vehicles came to pull over infront of their property.

Curtis climbed out of the Master Time Machine, his eyes had darkened with thirst and light bruises were beginning to surface around the hollow. His attention was immediately drawn to the cows in the field and with a soft snarl, he was gone in a blur.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Just a heads up and it's going to be full blown this time xD

If adult situations offend you please skip this chapter.

If not, I hope you enjoy the smut! ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Heaven knows<strong>

Aro's coven had to set up camp after a long day of traveling. It was about this time that Julie foolishly wondered about the RAV4 and if it was still hidden in the place she had left it. If that were so, then why did Caius have some sort of a Vendetta against it? It wasn't as if anyone else was driving it and tried to run him over. The engine had cut out on her and there wasn't exactly a jump starter lying around.

Whilst they had been walking - rather running with Julie taking turns riding on Aro and Didyme's backs, she learnt a bit more ancient Greek and in turn taught Aro alittle more English. Didyme started to participate too but it was more because she was caught in the crossfire. Sometimes it got so funny trying to enunciate certain words that they would be laughing on and off, even when they said it right.

She learned that Aro and Didyme were siblings with Didyme being the younger of the two. Didyme was married to Marcus (the tallest Vampire with long brunette locks) and Caius and Athenodora (the Blonde female who had presented her with a new dress) were also married. By elimination, Didyme's brother was the only one that was unattached.

Unattached as far as she was aware until Didyme corrected Julie's assumption for her.

"No. Brother married." she had said with a giggle, turning her head to the side to smile up at Julie who was riding on her back at the time.

Julie's winced visibly, her heart feeling cold and her face immediately fell. But they almost...

"Aro παντρεμένος?" (Aro married?) she repeated, unable to restrain the note of humiliation and disappointment from leaking into her voice. She looked over at Aro who was smiling at her too and a spark of bitterness erupted within her. What the hell was he so happy about?! She had no plans to be the town whore per se and right now he was making her feel like one. "Who?!"

Caius quickly looked at Julie as if she had to be the dumbest person he had ever met in his life and his wife burst into a fit of giggles. Aro began to chuckle too and moved in close to Julie, raising his hand to brush some stray hairs out of her face. Julie responded by turning her head away from him. She would be damned if she allowed a married man near her again.

"Julie." he whispered to her in a voice so soft and loving that it made her want to burst into tears of anger. Of course Aro was married. No man as handsome and attentive as him were ever single. Julie both envied and hated whoever Aro's wife may be and wished nothing more to just be back at home in her room curled up under the blankets. Hell, she would settled for being inside the RAV4... anywhere she could have privacy to cry her eyes out.

Men!

"You wife." Didyme chirped in disjointedly, "Julie, Aro Wife."

"Whu-what?" Julie squeaked weakly, turning her head back to Aro who continued to smile at her gently. She had to have heard that wrong. Aro was married to her?

She stared at him, he looked like the God of Gods and she was... not. She was so pathetically human and ordinary. Not even ordinary, a social reject that no man in his right mind in her time ever went for. While everyone else around her seemed to be paired off, she was the only one still single. Besides Curtis, she was romantically unattached and it really wasn't by choice, unlike him. Almost everyday she had seen Curtis turn down advances from women (and even some gorgeous men) because he 'just wasn't interested'.

Julie, on the other hand wondered everyday when she would find someone to call her own. She was lonely, sometimes so lonely that she would start to cry. Curtis once caught her in the midst of her sorrow and after finding out why, tried to introduce her to a couple of young men. They seemed nice at first but they always turned out to be jerks. Jerks who treated her poorly and cheated on her, making the boys that bullied her at school seem like sweet, little angels.

They were camping in another forest that felt much hotter than the last one she was in. It was an wet heat that got the light material of her dress clinging to her like a second skin. Her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and yet she was shivering like she had a chill. The Vampires had all gone away, to hunt most likely but Aro stayed behind with her.

Meanwhile, inside she was a vast mix of emotions and the more she thought about it, the more complicated it was. Her body was quaking from the strain of keeping it all bottled up inside her.

Or was it to keep herself from going insane?

Aro was sitting beside her on a log, staring at her with darkened eyes and a look of what could only be summarised as longing. It was so raw and primal that it was uncomfortable to look at and so Julie sat huddled against herself. Her legs were brought up so her arms could wrap around her shins and hug them to her chest. Her chin resting upon her knees and her shoulders rose and fell somewhat with her breathing.

"Where were you?" she whispered and Aro made a small grunting noise to show that he was listening to her. She turned her head and looked at him sadly, "Where were you in my time? Why weren't you around? I cried myself to sleep some nights wondering where you were..." Of course she didn't mean Aro personally, just the idea of the type of man she pictured herself being with. She was aware that she was speaking words that Aro couldn't possibly know yet but right now she didn't care. "Every single day I wished for a love of my own and to be loved in return. Who would protect me and chase away anything or anyone who tried to hurt me. Someone to talk to even if it was just to listen."

Her voice began to crack from all the emotion she was spilling from her lips, even Aro looked like he was affected even though she was sure he couldn't understand her. He made a soft noise like a wounded animal, reaching for her hand to which she complied. Once he had taken hold of said hand, he brought it up to his lips and planted a gentle kiss upon her slightly, moist skin.

"It's ironic that I had to go into the past to find the man I have been dreaming about all my life. If I didn't, I now know that I would have been doomed to die a lonely death in the future." she murmured, gazing at Aro as if he were the most intriguing of riddles. He held the palm of her hand against his face now and was stroking his lips over the pillowy flesh tenderly.

"Σ 'αγαπώ."

* * *

><p>"I love you." Aro whispered into her hand, continuing to rain kisses upon her skin. He could feel the blood rushing through the tiny veins just underneath the surface and yet had no desire to break through to taste one drop. No matter how lovely she smelled, "I'm sorry I married you without your consent. I just wanted you so much. I will be the best husband for you. I will cherish you forever. I will never hurt you. Please do not be sad." he raised his head and watch her with pleading red eyes. His face was straining to keep himself from looking more or less like he wasn't falling apart inside.<p>

Originally he wasn't intending on letting Julie know he tricked her into marrying him until he was sure that he could make her fall inlove. However she looked so distressed when Didyme unintentionally made her think he was married to someone else. He thought it was the perfect time to tell her that she was his wife because it would make her feel better.

Instead it seemed to make everything worse.

The next thing he knew, Julie had pulled her hand back and run away from him. He let out a anguished cry of panic and ran after her. Mentally berating himself for his impatience.

He then stopped just shy of a small clearing to which a hot spring resided. Julie was standing infront of it trying to catch her breath, her profile in the Vampire's line of sight. Aro was just about to reveal himself to her until she tugged the shoulders of her dress down to expose her perfectly formed breasts to the hot, forest air.

Aro held in a purr of desire at the beautiful sight of his half naked wife as she pushed the rest of her clothing off over her hips and down her shapely legs. After slipping her small feet out of her sandals, it was then she began to slowly step into the naturally heated body of water. All the while Aro watched admiringly as her nude form disappeared into the steaming depths.

He was completely hard and throbbing now, his hand coming down to palm his erection through his chiton roughly. His inner beast urged him to come forth but again he stopped himself at the next thing his Bride did.

He was not the only one aroused as it would seem.

The girl was letting out soft whimpers and moans as she leaned her back against the rocky edge of the hot spring. It took him a moment to realise that her right arm was moving as the attached hand was under the water, doing something that evidently put her in a state of pleasure.

Aro let out a soft moan along with her, continuing to stay hidden in the shadows watching his mate masturbating. He had never seen a woman touching herself before and the sight of it was both thrilling and made him almost cum in his loincloth. He would have gone to her if he wasn't so convinced that she was upset with him and this thought depressed him until-

"Aro..."

She was touching herself over _him_.

Her wanton whisper of his given name got him emerging from his hiding place and approaching the waters edge. The Vampire didn't miss the look of mortification upon his little wife's face as he began to take off each piece of his clothing infront of her. He stared at her, raw sexual desire burning in his now coal black eyes as he kicked off his own sandals and stepped into the water with her.

Aro floated over to her side with a low, possessive growl. She readily leaned into him when he came to press himself firmly up against her quaking body. The scent of her arousal permeated the air and in response, Aro made sure she felt the evidence of his own arousal pressed firmly into her hip.

"Do you see what you are doing to me, little one?" he snarled softly to her, pressing his hardness into her soft flesh suggestively. "I am your husband, you are my wife. We will have our pleasure... now!" He attacked her neck savagely, not as a Vampire but a willing Lover.

He licked, kissed and sucked upon her skin gently, careful not to break the fragile flesh of his Human Bride. Soon a very angry bruise of a love bite surfaced upon her wet, honey tanned skin, a surprised gasp emitting from Julie's parted lips at the sensation.

Aro's hand found it's way between his wife's thighs, pushing her own hand aside that had been touching herself and taking over. Her womanhood was so incredibly hot and slick and he was sure it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water they were saturating in. She moved ceaselessly against his appropriately muscular frame, he could feel her widening her legs for him and he smirked against her skin triumphantly.

When she turned her head towards him, he immediately stole her lips in a passionate kiss, his tongue sweeping over her lower lip agressively and demanding entrance. As soon as her lips surrender to his silent order, it was this he took her mouth the way he intended to claim is mating rights.

He will make her want him.

He teased her clit, rubbing delicate circles around the sensitive bud of flesh before stroking it in a way that made the female Human's hips jerk against his touch. She was making noises of desperation, her small hands attempting to reach for him as he withdrew his lips from hers.

"Aro." she whimpered, reaching for him again, "Aro..."

The sound of her voice so full of need got his fingers sliding further down towards the tender opening of her young pussy. His cock throbbed in anticipation of his next move and as soon as his mate's managed to capture his lips in a loving kiss, it was then he pushed a finger into her. She whimpered again, her hips thrusting against his hand until his finger was buried all the way to the hilt. He then felt the barrier that was the proof of her virginity and he growled in approval.

He will be her first.

He retracted his hand, lifted the limp that had been within the heaven that was between her legs and began to lick her personal fluids off his finger. He hummed in relish, that smirk of his widening. Her scent of course matched her taste, she was delicious.

Aro then let out a strangled cry of bliss for as he was sucking her juices greedily off his hand, Julia's own underwater had found his erection and had wrapped it's self around his thick shaft.

"Yes!" he gasped, beginning to thrust his hips encouragingly, sliding the evidence of his desire against the soft palm of her hand, "You are such a good little girl." he wrapped his arms around his wife's slender shoulders and crushed her body into his, jerking his cock in her hand.

Soon he had enough of the teasing and the fondling and switched their positions so Julie was now straddling his lap. Her entire being was blushing from the heat of the hot spring and obviously from her arousal. Aro mused that if he could blush, he would be as red as her as he gently raised her hips and positioned her over his throbbing stiffness.

Just the sensation of having the tip of his cock prodding her intimate lower lips sent electrifying zings of yearning throughout his immortal body. Pulses of pleasure that almost got him thrusting savagely into the warm haven above him yet alas he couldn't. He never made love to a Human as a Vampire before and didn't want to hurt his precious mate.

His resolve then softened, his previous onset of animalistic brutality crumbling as he thought of the possibilities of what he would do to her if he wasn't careful. The images that his head conjured up were horrifyingly grotesque and he immediately withdrew from her. His hands withdrew from her hips and he averted his eyes.

"Aro?" she questioned gently, reaching for him to which he regarded her regretfully.

* * *

><p>Julie leaned forward and began to run kisses down the side of his face while she swiveled her hips so the head of his cock swepted over her delicate opening enticingly. She heard her husband let out a very faint moan yet saw him shake his head fearfully.<p>

"W-why not?" she breathed, her nether regions physically aching to be filled by him, "I want you to..." the girl's hands rested upon his shoulders while she went to caress his neck, scraping her teeth lightly against his jugular.

She had a feeling she knew what had gotten him turned off and admittedly was a bit scared too. Vampires were very strong, stronger than anything she had seen. Curtis once demonstrated his strength to Julie and witnessed him turn rocks into sand and make a bar of steel resemble a crumpled up piece of paper. She was both amazed and frightened at what he could do.

However, she believed that Aro would never intentionally harm her. He had all this time to do some nasty things to her and yet he always treated her with kid gloves. She was well aware of what he was capable of doing if he lost control but trusted him not to.

To prove it, she initiated the point of no return. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath and swiftly lowered herself onto her new spouse's erection of generous girth. She tensed at once as the extremely sharp and uncomfortable sensations enveloped her.

* * *

><p>"Gods!" Aro called out in shock as his manhood was suddenly embedded within his Bride's tight wetness. His arms immediately wound around her waist for leverage, holding her still as she yelped softly in pain. He could only imagine what kind of agony her impulsive bout of bravery brought her.<p>

Never the less he stroked her back, kissed and nipped at her neck affectionately and whispered words of sweetness and comfort until she began to move by herself. He watched appreciatively as she rose herself up in a tortuously slow pace, breathing heavily before bringing herself back down, burying his stiffness deeper into her hot, slick core. Her inner muscles pulled and convulsed around his comparatively cold member, making his hips jerk repeatedly and her soft, human body move to his rhythm.

His black with arousal gaze took in the sight of her breasts and instantly became hypnotised by the way they bounced infront of them. They were the perfect pair of tear drop shaped flesh that got him reaching for and fondling the supple mounds. His mouth eventually drifted over to take one lovely, hard nipple into his mouth to lick and suck the puckered tip until it turned red from the abuse. After administering the same treatment to the other, it was then he decided to change their positions.

He carefully pushed his little wife's body away, therefore sliding out of the warm ecstasy that was her pussy and guided her to stand up with him. Aro then turned the young female around and bent her body over, wordlessly instructing her hands to hold onto the rocky edge of the hot spring for stability. He got an excellent view of her well rounded rear to which he brought a hand down and lightly smacked it.

But to her it was a full blown, disciplinary whack.

She yelped in shock, her body leaping forward slightly from the impact and yet the heat radiating from her little womanhood told him that she liked it. He brought his knee up to gently nudge her thighs further apart so he could see said sex and admire it in all it's glistening pink glory.

"Run away from me, hm? Doubt my love? Tease me with you femininity?" he growled huskily down at her as he smacked her again. He thought back to the incident at the waterfall, the kiss on his neck as they ran away from the Romanians and just earlier when he spied her masturbating over him. Her attractive hind quarters were already red from his punishment and the scent of her blood rushing to the surface only drove him all the more wild with lust, "You are mine now. Do you understand, beloved? Mine to love, mine to mate with and mine forever..." He didn't smack her again, only grabbing her hips and pulling her arse towards him. He ground his cock into the cleft of her dripping wet slit, her steaming, hot juices rubbing off onto his already slippery shaft.

"Aro..." she was moaning, turning her head to look up at him wantonly, "Aro..." she then began murmuring something in her own language to which he made out a few words like 'yes' and a expression that meant 'good'. He smirked down at her, bending over her back so his front was pressed against her and his cock pushed it's way back into her extremely snug pussy.

* * *

><p>Julie's breathing had become short and shallow and when Aro had reentered her, she cried out with unadulterated passion. Her core was an inferno of hot desire as his thrusts began to pick up pace and pound her sex so brutally that her legs were struggling to keep herself up. Their movements caused the warm waters surrounding them to splash about and make small but out of control waves. It spilled over onto the rocky ledge making them all the more slippery and hard for her hands to keep a grip.<p>

"Θέλω να σας ακούσω να ουρλιάζουν!" (I want to hear you scream!) he was saying in that sensuous, demanding growl that sent a pleasant chill down her spine, "Να φωνάξουμε έτσι οι Θεοί ξέρουμε ότι το ζευγάρωμα!" (Cry out so the Gods know _we are mating_!)

And that did it, Julie came with a cry so loud that her voice echoed throughout the dark forest around them. "Yes! Aro! Oh my God!" she pushed back against his erection, riding out her orgasm with gusto.

Her moans tipped Aro over his own edge into oblivion, cumming into his wife with an almighty thrust. His hands immediately let go of Julie's hips and instead grabbed hold of the rocky edge of the hot spring. The Vampire easily made dust of the makeshift safety grip the moment he spilled his load that was seed inside his personal paradise. He easily flooded her pussy to the point of overflowing, spying a steady stream seep out of her and run down her inner thigh after he withdrew.

Before he hand a chance to bite into her neck and turn her, Julie fell away from him, collapsing onto the bank of the hot spring in exhaustion. Aro immediately scooped her up into his arms before her body slid into the water and drowned.

As he cuddled her close, he smiled darkly at the way his scent had now mixed with hers, "Mine..." Aro whispered to her as he nuzzled her cheek affectionately, "Mine _forever_."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hello! I apologise for the wait on the update, especially seeing as I previously had gotten into the habit of updating once a day.

The Chistmas holidays are over for me and I had to return to work to which there was a backlog of orders to be filled... and damn there was alot to catch up on! Also an assortment of other distractions happened that I will not bore you all with but you know, that's life for you :3

Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Like a song must end...<strong>

It was just before the sun rose when his coven mates had returned and upon their arrival at the campsite, there was a collective intake of surprised grunts and hisses. Aro smirked inwardly as he cuddled his slumbering though fully dressed mate against his side, his chlamys lying across the bottom half of her body. They were resting against the fallen log they had been sitting on last night and Julie had been sleeping peacefully since collapsing.

Upon hearing the strange noises from her husband's companions, she awoke slowly raising her head, blinking her eyes groggily in the darkness. However Aro began to stroke her back and whisper soothing words that got her snuggling in close and laying her head back down onto his chest. Once she was fast asleep again it was then Caius spoke, keeping his voice low. A considerate move that surprised Aro given his previous attitude towards the girl.

"So, the deed is done?" Caius inquired sounding as though he were merely asking Aro if he paid the tax man today. The other Vampire quirked a brow in response.

"Is it not obvious?" he replied, settling on running his fingers through his wife's long, dark hair. She stirred, murmuring something before falling silent once more.

"I should hope so," Didyme piped up with a tinkling laugh, "You were loud enough for the Gods to hear." She then held out a small bag for her brother to take, "For your mate. I took this bread off the humans we hunted. Just incase."

"Just incase?" Aro repeated, nodding his thanks as he caught the offering with a swift snatch and set it down next to his free side, "What ever do you mean, sister?"

"Incase the bite of life has not been given." Marcus clarified, staring down at the girl calculatingly, "And we see she hasn't commenced the change."

"What are you waiting for, Aro? Make her one of us. She has obviously accepted you as her mate-" but Caius was cut off by his coven brother's growl of annoyance.

"I'll transform her when I'm ready." Aro snarled suddenly making all of his coven members take a step back in fright and Julie wake with a start.

* * *

><p>Julie discovered to her delight that Vampires learned very quickly. The more time she spent teaching Aro (and indirectly Didyme) to speak english, the more they were able to communicate sufficiently. They were still a tad disjointed but at least the human from the future could guess what they were trying to say. Unfortunately, being a slow said human, her Greek was not as competent but at least she had herself some translators now.<p>

"Before I woke up, why were you making that objectionable noise?" Julie was asking Didyme as she rode happily upon Aro's back. It was extremely sunny and alittle windy so she had to borrow her sister-in-law's hamation for a makeshift hood to keep out the rays.

"What does this mean; 'ob-dec-shu-na-bool'?" she replied curiously, gazing up at Julie with fascination. She evidently become fond of learning about her language and would take any opportunity she could get to explore the meaning of new words. Aro was exactly the same to which Julie got the impression that they were competing with each other to see how could speak it fluently first.

"It means to 'not agree with'. To 'not like' something. Bad. Unacceptable."

"Oh!" Didyme then exchanged looks with her brother who began smirking again. "Uh... how you say-"

"My seed." Aro interrupted, turning his head to regard Julie, "You... me... mating scent."

A brief recollection of their erotic activities last night flashed to her mind and she promptly turned red. "Oh. Oh I see..."

About a minute or so went by in silence, more awkward on Julie's part because she wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed or nonchalant about the whole ordeal. She looked to Aro for some guidance but saw that he wore the typical expression of male pride and so thought better then to follow his example.

Time to change the subject.

"Aro?" she patted his shoulder to get his attention to which he readily gave to her, "Remember when you got me that white dress? The one I married you in?" The thought of being married to a Vampire, let alone married at all was a very surreal concept for her. In all honesty she really didn't have the faintest idea why he would pick her of all people to get married to. They didn't even know each other for a week before he tricked her into going down the aisle.

Okay, to be fair, she did have her suspicions and now that she thought about it, all the warning signs were there. The Temple, the Ancient version of a Priest, the Altar... Seriously, what did she think Aro brought her there for? A closing down sale?

"Yes, yes." he nodded with a smile.

"Who were those other Vampires? What did they want?" she thought back to the how that larger Vampire back at that village looked like he was going to tear Aro limb from limb. She didn't like the look of them and wanted to know what their whole trouble was.

She saw Aro glance apprehensively at Caius who had turned his head slightly towards them, no doubt eavesdropping on this particular part of their conversation. She couldn't blame him for being cautious, Caius seemed to be the most temperamental of the group with his wife, Athenodora, being somewhat the opposite. She couldn't help but wonder how such different people could end up together...

"They... coven Romania... Barbarians... Bad... Want kill you. I refuse... I threaten Romanians... I say leave Julie alone."

Julie found herself gripping Aro much tighter after he said this. She was a stranger and yet he was willing to put himself in danger for her. Something thrummed uncomfortably in chest and her sinuses felt like it had something heavy pressing against it.

"Thank you, Aro." she murmured, biting her lower lip as her voice shook, "I appreciate you protecting me." She raised her hips as if trying to climb over the Vampire's shoulders so her lips could at least reach the place where Aro's jawline started and kissed him softly. He purred in response, the vibrations of his low rumblings felt pleasant against her body.

Speaking of which, her body ached from last night and upon checking herself this morning, her inner thighs, waist and neck were littered with bruises (her bottom included no doubt). However she didn't make a fuss because she didn't want to hurt her new husband's feelings. And she sort of liked it. Bruises heal, no harm done.

"Aro?" she beckoned again and he purred alittle more loudly to show he was listening, "People getting married within a few days of knowing each other... does that happen often around here?"

She was nervous that Aro would take offense to this. After all Julie was a stranger in this time, she spoke funny compared to them and clearly didn't know how things operate. For a world so primitive, their idea of normal was confusing and at times rather terrifying. Aro gave a musical chuckle that would have made her weak in the knees if he didn't have a firm grim on them.

"Vampires no need marry to mate... Humans need marry to mate. So I marry you."

Julie almost hated herself for questioning his motives but she had to know. Men in the 21st century seemed to her that they, as a whole, agreed to ignore her existence. When they did notice her, it was only for their own amusement. Curtis seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared about her, in a non-romantic way of course. But sticking to the subject at hand...

"Why me?" she asked him in a small voice, "You're a handsome man, you could have any beautiful woman you want... why choose to marry me? I'm nothing."

Aro stopped moving while his companions thundered ahead of them. He lowered himself to the ground so Julie's feet reached the callous surface below. He turned to her and stared down at her incredulously, almost looking angry. The girl recoiled at once, looking down at the ground to avoid his gaze to which he growled disapprovingly.

"You dare-"

"I'm sorry!"

"Good. Happy you sorry." he snarled at her and she winced as if he had just slapped her, "Not like bad words said about wife. You talk bad words about you. I angry."

Although it came out very crudely, she understood what he was trying to say. He was clearly expressing displeasure that she would speak so low of herself when he seemed...

She stopped herself from even suggesting that he could ever...

"Σ 'αγαπώ!" (I love you!) he bit out savagely and Julie winced again. He then took hold of her forearms as if he were going to shake her and glared at her with those crimson orbs he called eyes. She quivered beneath his unseen scrutinizing gaze, too afraid to look back up at him, "Σ 'αγαπώ! Σ 'αγαπώ!" (I love you! I love you!) his voice was softer but still had that dominating edge to it, so hard yet passionate.

As soon as she dared to lift her head, he robbed her lips and kissed her with such heated passion that it got her burning hotter than the sun blazing down upon them. She clung to his waist, addicted to that insatiably cold mouth of his despite feeling that she didn't deserve it.

That she didn't deserve him.

When they finally broke apart, her lips red and kiss swollen, it was then his voice somewhat resembled his normal, silky and seductive tone, "How you say... when man feels..." he withdrew one of his hands from her arms and placed it over his heart. Patting his chest for emphasis, "... more strong than like for woman?"

"I love you." she replied instantly and so surely that she mentally berated herself for the exposure of such personal feelings. She had left herself open for attack, naked and helpless to defend herself. She may as well have just handed him a gun and asked him to shoot her through the heart.

His frosty hands came up to frame her face, keeping her head tilted up to look him. Into those eyes. The eyes of a drinker of human blood, an ancient being in her time and yet the being of a divine compared to her.

"I love you." he repeated, pulling her close again. "I love you." the metaphorical gun's nose now digging firmly into her chest, "I love you." The trigger was pulled but she had no heart for him to shoot. She no longer owned a heart because her heart now belonged to him.

And it even made less sense than getting married to someone you hardly know so quickly. But since when was love rational?

* * *

><p>Desperation made people do things they normally wouldn't do. Things that would make people think twice and wonder if said person had lost their marbles. It was no picnic for the one who was experiencing such turmoil either and what is on the surface is merely the tip of the ice berg.<p>

The longer Curtis waited for Julie and Aro to arrive in Rome, the more impatient and anxious he became. He hated the feeling because he was usually a very calm person... perhaps at times alittle excitable but always as serene as duck pond in a park somewhere. He wasn't used to having his gift involuntarily cut off like this. He was a master strategist, his gift made him that way but it all went down hill whenever he was around Julie.

He never really saw the need to use his talent on her, his gift allowed him to be well liked and bend wills and Julie became his friend without resorting to such. However when it came to things he wanted to do for her, like buy her a car and offer her free board at his place, she refused. Most people would jump all over free stuff but Julie was one odd little duck. She was too nice and that was when Curtis began trying to use his gift on her.

It was her 21st birthday and they were in her favourite all-you-can-eat Restaurant in a little town called Taybrook. She had just blown out the candles of the tiramasu cake he had specially ordered for her and before she could reach for the knife to cut herself a slice, Curtis had presented her with a Nissan catalog.

"What is this?" she had asked, taking the reading material and flicking through it curiously. Curtis was grinning at her brightly.

"It's your birthday present, sweetheart." he placed his hand on her arm as a reassuring gesture, "I wanted to buy you a car but I didn't know which one you would like, so I went to the dealer and picked up this brochure for you. All you have to do is pick which one you like the best and I'll buy-"

"No!" When most people would be thrilled with the idea of getting their very own car, Julie looked horrified. It was as if Curtis had told her that she was fired. "I can't-I can't let you-"

"But I want to!" he had protested passionately. He had his frozen, unbeating heart set on getting his best friend a new set of wheels so she could have some independence. Of course he was happy to drive her around but he thought it was about time she did things for herself for a change. When it looked like she was going to refuse him again, that's when he started with his gift.

He stared at her, willing for her to see reason and allow him to get her a car. However when his mind was supposed to come up with ways to persuade the girl to see his way... he came up with nothing.

He began to frown, willing his strategic sight to come into play, to give him all sort of solutions to his problem... and yet still nothing.

His gift didn't work on her.

Julie stared back at him, furrowing her brow slightly. She was obviously wondering what was going through his mind to look so funny at her. Or maybe the girl was getting scared as to why he had been sitting next to her for so long, unmoving like a statue. Her dark eyes shifted every now and again, checking for any sign of movement. The rise and fall of his shoulders that indicated his breathing, twitching of the eyes or slight adjustments of his long, slender fingers which rested upon the table top.

It was when she poked him on the forearm with one, small, shaking hand was when Curtis finally came to. For the briefest of moments, he felt an irrational rage towards Julie simply because she rendered his power useless and upon this realisation, he froze and immediately berated himself. It wasn't her fault, the girl didn't even know that he was a Vampire with a special gift at the time. She was blameless and his fury immediately melted away when she touched him.

So soft and innocent.

How could he have ever thought of hurting her?

Curtis threw his arms around her fragile, little human body and cradled the astonished girl against him, "I'm sorry." he had murmured into her hair over and over again. "I'm so very sorry!"

* * *

><p>"When will you... you know... turn me into one of you?"<p>

Aro looked down at his wife as they approached the outskirts of Rome. He had taken to hugging her bridal style in his arms instead of carrying her upon his back. To him she was weightless, like a feather floating in the breeze. He liked carrying her this way and she seemed to like it too. The side of her head was resting against his chest where his heart used to beat within him. A heart that would have beat for her if he were still human.

Admittedly he was happy and relieved to finally hear her ask about her transformation. He had been extremely close when they finally consummated their marriage. He wanted to hear her express interest in spending eternity with him. A request he was more than willing to grant.

"Rome... you will be Vampire." He said with a small, self satisfied smirk. He had it all planned out. She will need three days to rest during the change and then she will immediately need to feed. Where else better than a place full of humans for his newborn Bride?

His mouth filled with venom and his loins ached at the thought of teaching her to hunt. How magnificent she shall be to take down her first prey and wreck havoc and devastation.

Reservations be damned, it will be a proud moment for him.

He was also made curious as to how her immunity to his mind reading ability will manifest as a Vampire. Infact the concept only built up the anticipation and he was half tempted to sink his teeth into every part of her body right then and there. The sound of her screams music to his ears in a very different way. A lullaby to which would signal her final breath as a his adored Human and be reborn as his beloved Vampiress.

Aro found himself to be nuzzling her neck, purring sensuously against her skin and scraping his teeth over the part of her throat to which he would target first. His venom will soon penetrate her every pore, freezing her in time just for him, turning her into his physical equal. He will watch her take humans to sustain her, observe her lips caressing their necks before she sunk her perfect teeth into their fragile flesh and slowly suck the life out of them.

He felt himself harden at the thought.

There was a sudden rumble of thunder. Or at least what he thought was thunder until he looked up and saw something that made him both curious and worried at the same time.

* * *

><p>They stopped moving and Julie looked up at Aro questioningly before she followed his stare to see what had grabbed his attention. When her big, brown eyes fell on the sight, she jumped out of his arms and took a step forward. Her husband immediately whimpered from the loss of contact and so she returned to his side with a small smile.<p>

It was the RAV4!

"Beast?" Aro asked of her, gripping her arm and tugging her back towards him. He attempted to maneuver their positions so she ended up standing behind him but she refused the notion. She shook her head feverishly.

"No, no! That is a Car!" she began to tug his arm in turn, "Come on, it won't hurt you!"

After a few more moments of coaxing, it was then Aro finally gave in and slowly followed the girl towards the flashy, white vehicle. Meanwhile Julie was wondering how said vehicle got all the way out here. At first she thought they had been going in circles this entire time but after analyzing her surroundings, she concluded that this can't be so.

Someone had to have moved it.

Being that the windows were tinted too darkly to have a clear view of the interior, she hesitated for a moment before giving the glass a slight tap with her finger. She waited a moment or two for a response and when none came she tried the handle and opened the door to have a look.

There was no one inside.

The touch screen monitor was switched on and displaying the 'NEO Technologies' logo, the eerie glow of the dials, various tubing and lights were also running. She looked to the key hole beside the wheel where the key to the ignition should be jutting out from but there was nothing there. She remembered leaving the key in the ignition when she went to get help... so where did it go? And how was the engine running on it's own without one?

She took a mental note that there was a small pile of white clothing upon the passenger seat and upon closer inspection, she saw that it belonged to them. Someone had evidently been to the room they stayed at the other day and picked these up. This could only mean one thing.

Curtis was here.

"Julie?" Aro touched her back and she immediately withdrew from inside the RAV4, closing the door behind her. He then took hold of her arm and began to tug her away from the vehicle and for a brief moment she was once again faced with the memory of her dream.

The implication of which she would choose to stay in, the past or the present?

The RAV4 represented her chance to go back to the future, to return to the only kind of life she knew of; a life of loneliness and seclusion. Aro represented the chance (quite possibly the only one she was going to get) to stay and start fresh. She felt freer, happier and loved in the past. She had a husband of her very own who, for some inexplicable reason, chose to be with her. And the thought of leaving him... hurt.

The moment her mind was made up, she raised her head and kissed Aro on the cheek, "Let me just get our stuff out of the Car. I won't be long." she then turned, pulling away before her Vampire could have a chance to stop her and approached the RAV4 again. She opened the door and climbed inside onto the driver's side, extending her arm towards the passenger seat where their clothes lay.

Going 'commando' just wasn't her style.

* * *

><p>Aro watched on, having a bad feeling about the Car before them. But seeing as Julie was so at ease being around it, he restrained himself from any further protests. However this thing was everything that Caius told him, it was big and intimidating and seemed to be growling at them softly.<p>

When his wife was fully inside, the foot that had been keeping the Beast open had slammed shut just as she withdrew. He took a step forward anxiously but seeing as Julie didn't make any noises of distress, he remained where he was.

That was until a moment later when he heard frantic pounding coming from inside.

* * *

><p>Julie's foot had been keeping the door on the Driver's side open as she crawled in to retrieve their things. However she was losing balance and automatically retracted her leg to regain control, thus making the door slam shut behind her. She wasn't worried though as she bundled up the garments and sat up on the Driver's seat to regain her composure. It was when she tried to open the door and there was a faint <em>'clonk'<em> multipled by five around her that got her worried.

She was locked in.

Julie tried to pry the latch on the handle of the door to unlock it manually but it wouldn't budge. She then had a go at the switch that wheeled down the power windows but again, no response.

"Oh God..." she breathed as she jumped up from her seat, crawled over to the door opposite and tried that one. Again, nothing seemed to be yielding and she couldn't crawl out into the boot to try that door because all the machinery that Curtis had installed in the back, replacing the backseat had created a impenetrable barrier.

She started to pound on the door, "Aro! Help me!" she called out in panic, her clothing lying on the floor and completely forgotten in her terror. "Aro! Aro!"

Before Aro could even react, the engine began to roar, the wheel turning with an invisible force, driving off and away from her husband. She cried out, clawing at the window. The RAV4 was picking up speed, thundering down the dirt road rivaling the agility of a Vampire because from what the side mirror was showing her, Aro was just barely touching the boot of the car.

He was shouting after her and she continued calling out to him, pounding on the door, trying to get out. Her blood was pumping in a deafening rhythm in her ears, screaming herself hoarse before she scooted clumsily onto her back, reared up her legs and began to stamp violently against the windows, trying to smash her way through.

It looked like Curtis thought of everything however because the glass seemed to be bullet proof. No matter how violent she was, the glass still looked absolutely flawless, not a chip or a crack had shown.

Where was it taking her too?


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hello everybody!

First of all I would like to thank you for your patience and your awesome reviews! After all it's what keeps me writing ;)

I seriously wasn't expecting this much of an interest in my writing and it truly warms my heart that I'm receiving such support. Kudos my darlings!

Mistakes are mine, I apologise in advance!

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: Return to sender<strong>

The sun was blazing over a lone Vampire who sat crouched at the front of a black heavy utility vehicle. The rays from the fiery body above set off an attractive sparkle along the expanse of the exposed part of the back of the immortal's neck. His bare hands which sported a power drill had the same effect.

Curtis had been working on attaching a rather large bullbar of steel onto the front of his Dual cab when his computer let off a repetitive beep. This alarm was indicating the presence of authorised user entering the RAV4.

He paused his work for a moment and checked the surveillance that displayed a small, young woman crawling along the seats to get at the pile of clothes he had planted there. He furrowed his brow before tapping on the keyboard and activating the security protocol which involved locking the girl in as soon she allowed the door to close.

Curtis didn't like tricking Julie but it was about time they went home. He was getting fed up with the Ancient era with it's primitive way of living and it's ridiculous way of thinking. He was in Rome now and it was nothing but a breeding ground for humans to feed the Romanians as he came to realise. Of course there were none of that coven around at the present time to keep an eye on their 'cattle' but it didn't stop his uneasiness of being here.

Furthermore, it wasn't a nice feeling to be feared and given the common knowledge of his kind in this period of history, the humans made sure to steer clear of him once they realised who he was. Curtis wasn't used to it, he became immortal during a time when Vampires had become myths and legends. The secrecy of his kind had it's benefits because it would mean he was never short of a conversation with a human. Despite his seclusion, he liked making friends with humans and found their company fascinating... when he wasn't thirsty for their blood of course.

According to the official historical records back in the 21st Century, Rome wasn't founded until sometime in 700 BC by some chap named Romulus. Why it never mentioned a place with the exact same name existing hundreds of years prior puzzled him. However said historical records were very vague about this particular period of time anyway and much was based on implication and estimation.

He quickly programmed the Slave to bring Julie to his location so he may inspect her. The machine he invented was not advanced enough to perform bodily scans just yet. This wasn't Star trek after all.

He got out of the Dual Cab just in time to see the approaching RAV4 but also, to his great displeasure, Aro's Ancient era counterpart running after it. He could hear Julie's tortured cries coming from within the vehicle and his dead heart seemed to ache guiltily before he swiftly got back into the Master Time Machine. He immediately started the engine, shifted into first gear and then to second as he drove towards his target, the bullbar newly and securely installed.

* * *

><p>He should have never allowed his Wife back into the belly of the Beast. He vowed to protect her from any harm and he had failed her... again.<p>

What kind of Husband was he?

This was Aro's self loathing line of thinking as he chased after the growling 'Kah' as it sped away with his mate. He could hear Julie calling out after him in sorrow, scared and terrified that something that Caius accused of her being in league with would suddenly turn against her.

He should have never even let her anywhere near it.

The Beast was so fast that it was emitting colourful fire from it's many tails that shined like crystal silver in the sunlight. The flames of purples, blues and even flecks of white blew in all it's fury from within but it didn't scare away it's immortal pursuer, if anything, it made him more determined to catch him. Rip him open and retrieve what belong to him.

No one stole from Aro.

Speaking of such, Aro was dimly aware that they had ventured deep into Rome and also vaguely noticed the sound of another growl like the Beast, but all the more menacing. The next thing he knew he was sailing further way from the white 'Kah' than he would have liked, his limbs thrown back from the force, grabbing at the air for purchase. He then collided with the Earth, landing in a crumpled heap upon the ground.

* * *

><p>As the RAV 4 came to a halt and Aro was just about to reach her, she saw a dark flash zooming by the vehicle, missing her by a whisper. The black Dual Cab in all it's vast and intimidating glory, to her horror, went straight for Aro, slamming right into the Vampire with a sickening smash like metal to a brick wall. She screamed, tears streaming down her face as she was forced to watch her husband be thrown back violently away from her. Although he landed in a heap, he still somehow managed to come down gracefully but before he could fully stand up, the Dual Cab went for him again.<p>

This time running him over.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Julie began slamming her body against the car door, desperate to get out and somehow protect her fallen spouse. She was sure Curtis would not dare harm Aro if she were standing in between them. But she would never find out if this would be true as it were.

Although marked with a soft dusting of dark tyre marks across his thighs and face, Aro still scrambled to his feet and stubbornly clammered over to the RAV4 to get to Julie. If he were any other man or Vampire, he would be dead or would take the hint and run away, but not this one. An outsider would call him foolish and urge him to leave immediately and right now, she would be agreeing with them. Julie couldn't stand to see Aro getting beaten up for her sake and so started moaning for him to run.

"NO! NO! RUN! PLEASE ARO! PLEASE!" she sobbed and before his fingers even brushed the heated exterior of the cruiser she was in, there was a deafening squeal of tyres, another roar and Aro was once more torn away from her. She watched him as if in slow motion, flying through the air like a rag doll. She wasn't sure if he had made any noise like a gasp or cry of pain but the moment his body collided with a cliff side, it was then she felt the powerful vibrations of what would be the sound of a loud crash.

The barrier shattered into an assortment of small to large rocks of various shades of brown. However there was one such stone that fell to the ground which was black like coal and shined with a dream like gloss that was likened to a shampoo advertisement. It fell away furthest from from the pile and when it turned as it rolled, she saw the handsome, pale face of her Husband frozen in a mixture of agony and shock.

Julie wanted to scream, oh God how she wanted to scream.

However she wasn't granted the mercy of making any sound as she stared wide eyed at the fallen head of her Vampire companion. She felt numb, infact she doubted she was even breathing because she couldn't even feel if any air was rushing in and out of her lungs. Her world had suddenly become as cold and colourless as her dream portrayed her future to be and right now she only wished it was her head lying on the ground instead of Aro's.

Somehow through her grief ridden mind, her eyes tried to seek out Curtis who obviously sat behind the wheel of the Dual Cab. The windshield was as dark as the tinted windows of the RAV4 and therefore was unseen to Julie's dull, human eyes. But she knew he was there and she stared at him with a look wide and vacant of any emotion.

_How could you do this to me?_

* * *

><p>Curtis had never killed another Vampire in his life and to know that his first was the future King of Vampires admittedly was a surreal thrill for him. His predatory side came out in him as he was running his opponent down and it felt good to give the bastard what he deserved. But now, instead of basking in the glory of obliterating the 21st Century of it's tyrant, he instead felt incredible remorse.<p>

The look on Julie's face was heartbreaking, like someone had just sucked the soul right out of her leaving behind an animated corpse. Her tanned flesh had paled several shades making her look almost sickly and her eyes-

It was like something out of a horror movie or a psychological thriller. He likened her stare to a mental patient who suffered from severe depression and had to be kept in a padded sell, complete with a straitjacket to prevent self harm. He noticed she had started rocking back and forth like a pendulum, simply staring at him with her large, doe like eyes that now seemed void of any signs of life. He had seen that look on a person's face before and it made him feel all the more worse.

The Marcus of the future used to look like this.

A horrible image came to mind of him being in the place of Aro as he murdered his own sister to keep Marcus from leaving. How cold and heartless a man had to be to destroy the happiness of another for their own selfish reasons. It was beyond cruelty.

And now Curtis was exactly like him.

No! He mentally protested, shaking his head. Aro was evil! I was doing Julie a favour by getting rid of him!

_Really? Then why is she so sad?_ A small voice in his head asked him mockingly, _Look at the devastation you caused the one person you claim to care about most in the world. You call yourself her best friend and yet you deny her happiness._

_You are a monster!_

Curtis could no longer stand to look at Julie. She was just so... dead. He wished she would cry and scream at him rather than staring at him in silence that seemed loud with accusation. Somehow he could handle that better than a mentally broken little girl.

And then he heard a scream of anguish that got him looking around in shock for it didn't come from Julie. She was still sitting in silence within the RAV4, continuing to stare at him with a look like ice.

A young woman that looked to be a younger, female version of Aro flitted to her fallen brother's head and scooped it up quickly, cradled him in her arms like a precious baby. Didyme combed her fingers through Aro's long dark hair and began to cry so hard that it tugged at his heart strings painfully. She looked and sounded like she was distraught enough for both Julie and herself.

Silly woman should thank her lucky stars. She has a future now.

The past versions of Marcus, Caius and Athenodora finally arrived on the scene and fell to their knees at what Didyme was holding. Caius' wife immediately rushed to her aid, throwing her arms around her and sobbing just as hard. Marcus and Caius themselves looked to Curtis' Dual Cab and Julie's RAV4 furiously, somehow knowing they had something to do with the tragedy. But before they had a chance to attack, the master Strategist turned the Dual Cab around and began to drive away, the RAV4 automatically following suit.

As he tapped upon the keyboard with one hand, the other clutching the steering wheel, he noticed that the sky had become ominously dark again quite literally out of the blue. It thundered and crackled threateningly above them as they drove away. The faster they went, the more violent the storm was above them.

After the coordinates were set, Curtis began to pick up more speed, doing his best to ignore the frightening display of nature outside. His eyes glanced towards the rear view mirror and saw that Julie had disappeared from view. His eyes darted towards the surveillance vision that had been shrunk and moved off to the side to see that she was lying down upon the front seats. He couldn't quite see her face since the angle of the camera's position was too high but could make out the tips of her shoulders and hips.

He'll make it up to her somehow.

Just as the sparks began to gather at the front of the Dual Cab and the RAV4, the surveillance display began to fuzz out. At first Curtis thought, just before displacement occured, that this was merely a side effect of transference between time periods. However his tune quickly changed when the flash of light showed up at the exact same time an ERROR message appeared upon his computer screen.

**LOST CONNECTION.**

* * *

><p>A disagreeable sound began to bleep from the computer screen but Julie drowned it out. She found that she could no longer sit up and had to lay down. She had now past the stage of numbness that came with the shock of witnessing Aro's murder and now was just feeling sick. The bile was beginning to creep up her throat no matter how much she tried to supress it.<p>

There was a familiar flash of light and Julie automatically closed her eyes through the bumps of displacement. The alert was becoming slightly louder to her now and out of lazy curiousity, she looked up at the screen to see a notification that got her forcing her body to sit up.

**OVERRIDE SUCCESSFUL. PLEASE STAND BY.**

After a couple of seconds of this, to which the girl was furrowing her brow slightly in wonder, the message disappeared replaced with the information table of the time and place she was now in. What she saw made her all the more confused and scared at the same time.

**DATE: 22/12/14 | DECEMBER 22ND, 2012 AD**  
><strong>TIME: 12:09PM<strong>  
><strong>LOCATION: 1008 GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY, NORWOOD, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.<strong>

Her first thought was that she was no longer in the past and she felt like screaming in anger. Not only was she forced to watch her Husband die, but she was denied the right to remain in his time period to mourn his death. Her second thought was that this date looked familiar to her and soon she came to know why.

There was the sound of two cars, thundering past her on the opposite side of the Highway and as she turned to look, she caught a glimpse of another white RAV4 and a black BMW racing after it. Her heart leapt at the scene in realisation as she watched her past self drive the Time Machine off into the night and then disappear in a flash of light.

Talk about _Deja Vu_.

Julie stared at the spot her past self disappeared from and suddenly felt incredibly jealous and sad for her counterpart. Jealous because she would get to see Aro and sad because she would lose him, just like her.

Her attention then strayed to her mysterious pursuer. She watched as the BMW slowed down and then make a U-turn past a fast food restaurant before driving down her side of the highway, straight towards her!

Julie immediately ducked back down to lay back on the seat, her hands reaching from Aro's old robes and throwing them over herself in an effort to conceal her presence. A childish thing to do but right now she didn't give a damn... at least she wasn't feeling sick anymore. She was too scared to.

If the driver of the BMW was going to kill her tonight, at least she would get to see Aro again.

She heard the clunks of the car doors unlocking and briefly wondered how that happened seeing as Curtis' Dual Cab was no where to be seen. This was until she heard the sound of a car slowing down to a stop outside and a couple of moments later, one of the doors opening.

Julie lay quivering under Aro's clothing, his scent filling her nostrils giving her a sense of comfort and agony instantaneously. A shadow was looming over her and in her adrenaline rush to escape, she did the only thing she could think of.

She let out a scream, grabbed hold of Aro's robes and tossed them off herself and over her aggressor's face. The yell that came out of the stranger told her that it was a man and while he was struggling to take the sheet off his head, Julie leapt out of the car, pushed past him and ran down the road. She headed towards the KFC on the corner and disappeared into the alleyway between the fastfood chain and a building that was currently undergoing renovations.

The girl could hear this man calling out after her but she didn't stop to decipher what he was trying to say. She was much too scared and shell shocked to care anyway. Right now she had to find Curtis and make him take her back to the past.

She turned her head to check if he was chasing her but thankfully found no sign of him. Julie shivered, pulling down the skirt of her dress in a paranoid manner. The fact that she wasn't wearing any undergarments made her feel uncomfortable and naked despite her outer covering. Also if it were daylight instead of night, she would have to endure the curious stares of the modern generation, no doubt wondering why she was wearing such a thing.

Soon she stopped running, too exhausted and grief stricken to go on. She ended up in a park somewhere to which she recognised as being at least half an hour walk back to NEO Tech.

Julie mentally cursed Curtis for doing this to her, for making her a part of his crazy experiments for his inventions. If she hadn't been suckered into it in the first place, then she wouldn't be in so much pain right now. She should of stayed in bed. She should have chucked a sickie or pretended not to have gotten his summon to their work place.

She collapsed onto the ground, so weak and tired from her run. The grass was so stale and plain compared to the lush, unspoilt land of Ancient Greece. This smelt of pollution that resulted from modern day plastics and food spoils while the past version was nothing but virgin Earth.

The memory made her smile as sleep began to claim her in her weakened state.

However she was being lifted off the ground all of the sudden and she automatically began to struggle. Her thrashing was fruitless as it was seem because the tight grip on her forearms made it impossible for her to run away. She was being dragged backwards and when she tried to yank herself away again, it was then she recognised the touch on her skin.

It was cold like ice and hard as rock.

The stranger behind her stopped moving just as she stopped struggling, she looked down at the hands holding her and saw that they were pale and somewhat glowed in the moonlight. Although the grip was firm, it wasn't hard enough to bruise her skin, only to immobilise her. Infact on closer inspection, it was as if she was being held the way Aro would hold her.

Safe and securely within his arms.

And that did it. She let out a howl like a wounded animal and she fell forward as far as this Vampire's grip would allow her to. It was like a Dam wall bursting, her tears flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall of sorrow. She screamed into the night, just screamed. Screamed and cried as if every bone in her body was broken, like she was being burned at the stake, like she was being shot by a thousand bullets.

"That is enough!" this stranger shouted over her cries, "Please be quiet. Someone will hear-"

"I can't-I CAN'T!" Julie sounded and acted as if she were being tortured. She began to struggle again, writhing as if in severe agony and thrashing violently.

"Julie, look at me!"

"No! No! NO!"

"Look at me! Please, cara mia!"

Julie turned her head, still bowed and directed at the ground. She didn't feel like taking orders from anyone, no one was in the position to give her orders after what she had gone through. It was the end of the World for her. She didn't want to do anything but scream and cry for eternity.

There was one thing that broke through her dispair and it was the sound of this Vampire's voice.

Smooth like velvet and rich like milk chocolate. Despite her excruciating misery, a warmth spread throughout her being at the sound of it and when she finally looked up into the stranger's face, her tears stopped flowing and she seized movement once more. Even her voice had ceased to function, her throat was getting raspy and sore anyway.

The first thing she noticed were his eyes. The most stunning pair of ruby like red eyes she had ever seen. His bloodless, pale face was perfectly formed and chiselled to perfection the way a Greek statue would have been. His hair was long and fell down his shoulders like liquid onyx. He was so heart breakingly handsome and Godlike that she honestly thought...

Could he really be...?

But he couldn't possible be...?

"Aro?"


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hello!

First of all, I love you all! xD Thank you for the faves, follows and reviews. You guys are where it's at!

Second, I better explain myself here. I realise there are alot of blanks that some of you maybe wondering about and so this chapter is more or less a filler.

Don't fret! I'll resume all in the next chapter :)

Oh and heads up, some dark themes may be present.

Anywho, enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 14: Whatever will be, will be...<strong>

_**1260BC**_  
><em><strong>Rome I, Italy<strong>_  
><em><strong>2:07pm<strong>_

There was a massacre in Rome that night. No human was spared as a vengeful Vampire went in with his Coven and tore up the place in rage. Although it was in their nature to kill humans for sustenance, this particular Vampire didn't drink one single drop. He only murdered.

After his Coven had put him back together, Aro was still emotionally and mentally broken. His Wife was no where to be seen, nor were the two Beasts that took her away. Due to his Vampiric eye sight, he could easily see another Vampire inside the Black Beast and knew that it was him that did it. He was the one directly responsible for taking away his mate and he will never rest until he tracked that golden eyed Monster down and had his head.

A storm was raging above their heads as Caius, Marcus, Didyme and Athenodora destroyed the place, keeping an eye on Aro as they went. Rome was nothing but a breeding ground for humans to feed the Romanian Coven and right now Aro felt like pissing them off. Once word got out that a rival Coven spoiled one of their food sources, they were sure to come after them. Normally he would not dare draw attention to himself, especially when they were in such a weak postion but right now he didn't care. He felt like raising Hell.

And a Vampire never forgets.

* * *

><p><em><strong>500 years later<strong>_  
><em><strong>Equivalent 21st October, 760BC<strong>_  
><em><strong>Rome II, Italy<strong>_  
><em><strong>9am<strong>_

Aro had gained a reputation for being a ruthless Leader of a Rebel Vampire Coven. His brutal tactics and relentless pursuit of power had been successful enough to make the Romanian Coven nervous. Anyone that they sent to annihilate Aro had always failed. Sometimes they would come back... in ashes.

It wasn't long before Marcus and Didyme grew tired of his savage rampage and tried to leave. However Aro prevented such a disastrous move by secretly murdering his own sister. Marcus became the opposite of Aro, yes, at first he was just as mad and violent as he was but he eventually became apathetic. It was a quiet insanity that would take Aro years before he achieved such a passive nature. The difference was that Aro knew the one responsible for taking away his mate while Marcus remained ignorant of his.

Yes, he had felt guilty for murdering his own sister. He loved his sister, she was family and Julie was starting to get close to her before she disappeared. However his jealous, lonely and vengeful part of him reasoned that if he could not be happy or escape his misery, than no one could.

A Vampire never forgets.

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><p><em><strong>500 AD<strong>_  
><em><strong>Romania<strong>_  
><em><strong>Midnight<strong>_

Aro's Coven, which had evolved in numbers and power and were now known as 'the Volturi' had successfully eradicated the Romanian Coven and usurped their power. They became the ruling Vampires of their world the moment the last Romanian soldier fell. The Leaders, who they came to know as Vladimir and Stefan had escaped the onslaught like cowards. Lucky for them, it really wasn't high on the Volturi's agenda to track them down. Aro could always save their execution for another day.

If one was to describe Aro as he was now, they would call him bipolar or mentally deranged from suffering the loss of his mate. Many females, Vampires and Humans alike attempted to win his favour but he showed no interest in them once so ever. He soon got so sick and tired of his romantic pursuers that he employed a 'stand in Wife' to ward them off. He was careful to choose a woman who had no romantic interest in him what so ever and found what he was looking for in a young woman named 'Sulpicia'. Not only did she put on a convincing front, a certain feature of this particular individual both amused and fascinated him.

She was a homosexual; preferring the company of ladies.

Aro had never met one before.

Sulpicia was pleasant company for someone so... unusual in tastes. They eventually became close enough for him to open up about his true mate; Julie and expressed how much he missed her. The young woman sat fascinated as she listen to his tale about how they met and how he lost her.

She was one of the few who knew that underneath his cold exterior was simply a broken man that was slowly growing more insane from the loss of his only love. And for that, Sulpicia couldn't help but feel incredibly sorry for him.

A Vampire never forgets.

* * *

><p><em><strong>1170 AD<strong>_  
><em><strong>Vienna, Austria<strong>_  
><em><strong>10:08pm.<strong>_

The Joissance Coven had been kicking up a fuss enough to make the Volturi come in and inflict the swift blow of justice. A newborn Vampire by the name of Kurt Joissance and his Coven mate, Stephen Joissance had been terrorizing the city with their feeding frenzies. By this time the Vampire had become a myth and the Volturi would prefer that it would remain that way.

Executing Stephen was easy, he was clearly the youngest newborn which made his method of dodging their attacks childs play. After he was dealt with, Kurt, after much deliberation was finally caught and made to face his punishment for risking their exposure to humans.

As soon as Aro laid eyes on this man, he flew into a fit of murderous rage that had been lying dormant for centuries. He recognised him as the one that took Julie away from him and for that, he was going to make his death especially slow and painful.

The terrified newborn was made to kneel before him to have his head ripped off but the moment Aro's hands touched his skin, he stopped. It wasn't because he suddenly felt pity for this lowly criminal. Oh no. It was something much more confusing than that.

When he gained access to Kurt's thoughts and memories thanks to his gift, he saw that Kurt didn't even know who Julie was.

But that's impossible! He was the one who took her away, he knew it!

Nonetheless, no matter how deeply Aro delved into his mind, no fragment of his Bride existed within Kurt's mind. There wasn't even evidence of memory tampering or anyway this Vampire's gift (which he learned was strategy) could hide certain parts of his mind from the Volturi Leader. So instead of killing him, Aro forced him into serving the Volturi. After all, this strategist may come in handy someday.

A Vampire never forgets.

* * *

><p><em><strong>1st of August, 1937AD<strong>_  
><em><strong>Volterra, Italy<strong>_  
><em><strong>9:27pm<strong>_

A Vampire's memory was impeccable. They could remember every single day of their immortality like the memorised lyrics of song. Events that had happened a very long time go were as fresh in their mind as if it had just happened.

Aro, of course was no exception.

Every single day he thought about the moments before Julie disappeared. He remembered what those cars looked like (he realised ages ago that it was not a 'Kah' or a Beast he had been looking at but automobiles), he remembered his Wife was screaming at him, begging him to run, he remembered Kurt's face before he ran him over. He especially remembered the name of the vehicle that attacked him as soon as he learned the English language and alphabet properly.

There was a silver badge stamped precisely in the middle of the automobile's front grill and again on the back. The letters were in black and for so long he had been wondering what it meant until he finally found out hundreds of years later.

It was the branding of the vehicle; **NISSAN**.

On the back it had more lettering positioned in the corner. This time it was in silver and it had read;** NAVARA**.

Of course he had caught on that Julie, Kurt and these automobiles were out of his time. He didn't know how but he was too insane by now to care about how impossible and ridiculous his theory seemed. The only person he shared this view with was Kurt, who turned out to be quite the genius when it came to technology.

When the first car came out, Kurt was all over it the moment the Volturi purchased one. He pulled it apart much to the Leaders' dismay just to see how it worked before putting it all back together and making it run better than ever. From then on, Kurt was instructed to be the Coven's mechanic and expert when it came to the technological advances of the Humans. It always helped to have a man on the inside.

Kurt collected many cars and at first Aro didn't take much stock to his strategist's enthusiasm until the latest of his collection arrived at their Castle. Aro had gotten the Tax Invoice and when he read the manufacturer's name, he fancied that his dead heart leapt in his chest.

**NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.**

"Kurt!"

"NISSAN NAVARA, Master?" Kurt had looked so pathetically clueless that it only served to anger Aro all the more. Infact he picked up a nearby chair and threw it at the stone walls in frustration, making Kurt recoil at once. "I-I'm sorry, I-I don't think t-there is such a vehicle-"

"Then you tell me the moment one is available... do you think you can do that, you imbecile?!" Aro said each word very slowly and full of malice as if he were talking to a misbehaving 5 year old child. He growled menacingly at Kurt who nodded quickly, keeping his eyes on the ground and not daring to say another word. He was long since used to his Master's violent temper although he didn't understand why Aro was especially nasty to him.

Not that he really cared, he hated Aro's guts.

And the hate was obviously mutual.

A Vampire never forgets.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Volterra, Italy<strong>_  
><em><strong>18th April, 1986<strong>_  
><em><strong>5:40pm<strong>_

"Master!"  
>Aro had been talking with his brother in the throne room when Kurt had come bursting in waving his latest Tax Invoice for a vehicle he had recently acquired. He ran up the steps and presented the piece of paper to his superior to which Aro unfolded lazily.<p>

**Item ordered; NISSAN NAVARA DUAL CAB 1987**

"Let me see!" Aro slammed the Invoice back into Kurt's hand and followed him into the court yard where a brand new Dual Cab in black was parked. The Delivery truck that had brought it to them was just about to drive away before Aro gave the signal for his minions to stop it from leaving.

"Master?" Kurt looked confused again, he had obviously done what Aro had told him to. As soon as this vehicle had been released onto the market, Kurt had bought one. He waited since the beginning of the year for it to arrive but still, Aro didn't look satisfied.

Infact he looked as though he were sucking a lemon.

"This is not the one." he said in a very low, dangerous whisper that got his subordinates shifting uncomfortably in fear. Kurt blinked, as if he had just been slapped across the face.

"But Master-!" he didn't get a chance to finish his protest before he punched in the face and was sent flying through the air and landed in an embarrassing heap several yards away from Aro. Speaking of which, he was seething at the sight of the Dual Cab. It looked nothing like the one he had seen almost three thousand years ago. This vehicle didn't look as sleek and sophisticated as he remembered it to be and he was down right furious at Kurt for wasting his time.

"TAKE IT AWAY!" he roared at the Delivery men who nodded and immediately jumped to it, loading the Ute back onto their truck as quickly and carefully as they could before driving away with it.

The only consolation that he had was that he was close to seeing his wife again. Everything was beginning to fall into place and so he instructed every contact he had at his disposal to search for a human girl that answered to the name of 'Julie'. Of course their were protests from those of the lower ranks because at this point in time, 'Julie' was a very common name. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But damn it, Aro did not care in the slightest. He was very close to finding his mate again. He could feel it. And he wasn't going to stop until he held her in his arms again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Norwood, NSW, Australia<strong>_  
><em><strong>16th March, 2013<strong>_  
><em><strong>10:35pm<strong>_

Curtis Johnstone (formerly known as Kurt Joissance) had been stationed in Australia for over a decade now as per Aro's orders. He was also instructed to change his name and make himself useful to the Coven by buying out a local company to make money and repay his debts to the Volturi. Buying all those vehicles over the years obviously cost a great deal of their resources and his Master thought it best to finally be compensated for his so called 'generousity'.

_Generousity my foot!_ Curtis had thought sourly as he waited in his Office for the next applicant to enter. NEO Tech had been on the verge of bankruptcy until he came along and brought it back to life. It was easy. His gift of strategy showed him a way to revive the ailing business until it was the hottest trend since the iPhone.

He was a genius like that.

Aro was still searching for some dame named 'Julie' and it was as difficult as they all predicted it to be. They all went through literally millions of girls all over the world that answered to this name and were close matches to the young lady that Aro had described. However none of them evidently pleased him but amazingly he didn't seem to be giving up. Infact it made him more determined.

Especially when those damned Nissan Navara Dual Cabs were beginning to look favourable to him. Why, he did not know. It was common knowledge amongst his kind that Aro was a couple of cards short of a full deck. He was a manic depressive, one moment he would be haunty and bored and then the next, he would be giggling hysterically. Infact he was giggling alot more nowadays now that he felt he was supposedly close to finding the girl he wanted.

Which was unfortunate because Curtis had stopped helping look for such a girl years ago.

"Hello, are you Mr Johnstone?"

Curtis looked up to see a pretty young lady with long dark hair, big brown eyes and the exotic good looks of someone with an Asian background standing nervously at the door. She was awkward though, standing in the sort of attire that would not get her employed in any Office he knew of. This poor soul turned up in a pair of dark jeans, a white blouse and a black, fitted jacket that made her look like she was simply going out to meet some friends. If it weren't for the fact that she was holding a piece of paper, that was pressumably her Resumé, Curtis would have been convinced she very well could be.

"Yes. You're not here for the Receptionist position, were you?" he rose a brow at her doubtfully and judging from the way the girl blushed in humiliation, she noticed.

"Y-yes, I-"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart but seeing as you turned up dressed like that, I don't believe you will take this job seriously-"

"I-I'm sorry! I know, this isn't exactly a business suit but it's the best I have. I can't afford to buy anything impressive which is why I need this job. I promise I will be the best employee you ever had-"

"Stop, please." She was begging. Curtis hated it when people begged. He felt embarrassed for the both of them. Yes, he may have been a bit harsh but he felt he really was doing her a favour. Who else cared enough to offer her constructive criticism when most people would have politely taken her Resumé to never call her again? "I'm sorry, Miss-"

"Lawson. Julianne Lawson." the girl offered helpfully although she sounded very put out. From the sound of things, this wasn't her first rejection and if she continued to dress like that, it wouldn't be her last.

But lucky for Miss Lawson, as soon as she introduced herself, Curtis' tune instantly changed, "'Julianne'?" he repeated and they poor little girl nodded eagerly, "As in the proper name for _Julie_?"

The little lady looked momentarily taken aback before eventually regaining her footing and nodding again, "I am also known by that nickname, yes. Very common, I know but-"

"May I see your Resumé, Julie?" Curtis flashed her his dazzling Vampire style smile that most girls immediately fawned over. However, although she looked hopeful, she either didn't care for or noticed this move. She looked just as tense and humiliated as she did before and Curtis felt bad for her. He was the cause of her discomfort after all.

After motioning for her to take a seat, he sat down and read over the girl's Resumé. According to her birth date, she would be turning twenty years old soon. Not that she wasn't already firmly within the age range that Aro described his particular 'Julie' was in. Miss Lawson also sported the exact looks and physique he was ordered to find and if his heart were still beating within him, it would have skipped several beats.

Back to the subject at hand though, the girl's Resumé left alot to be desired. She had held two positions before applying for this one. Both from the neighbouring town, Taybrook, and both were for short periods of time. The first lasted for only 6 months and the second for 14. She had listed a reference down for the second job but none for the first one. This usually meant she didn't get along with her former employer enough to earn a favourable review. He also noted that she didn't finish High School but her skills seemed suitable enough for the remedial position she was applying for.

This made a good enough cover story for his reasoning of hiring her if anyone should ask questions. As soon as the girl leaves, he will have to contact Aro as soon as possible and maybe then he could be free of his control or at least be treated a bit more respectfully.

"How soon can you start, Miss Lawson?"

* * *

><p>"I need a picture of her. Now."<p>

Curtis had contacted Aro via a Webcam chat early in the morning the next day in his Office. His newest employee will be arriving soon to which he had her uniform folded up neated on his desk for her to wear. Seeing as she said she couldn't afford business attire at the moment, he was kind enough to go out and buy it for her. He was fairly good at guessing the size of clothing that people wore so he didn't foresee any trouble with the fitting of such garments.

"And how do you propose I take a picture of her without her getting suspicious?" Curtis snapped irritably. Since moving to Australia and not being within physical reach of his tyrant of a Master, Curtis had become braver when it came to standing up for himself. He started to develop a backbone the moment he realised that Aro was relying on him more heavily than usual. Again, he didn't quite understand why but boy, he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"Maybe if you summoned up enough sense to use that useless lump of a brain of yours that you wouldn't need to rely on me to come up with everything!" Aro snarled, leering dangerously at the screen. "I have a good mind to-"

"Shut up! She's here!" Curtis sniffed the air, picking up the delicious scent of Julie the moment she entered the building downstairs. He could clearly hear her footsteps heading towards his Office to which Curtis immediately turned down the volume of his laptop computer and minimized the webcam chat that had Aro's sneering face.

Although Curtis could not see Aro, Aro could still see him and everything that was going on in that Office.

There was a knock at the door and Curtis immediately stood up to allow a very nervous Julie enter the room. He got her to stand infront of his Laptop to which he activated the screensaver to make sure she couldn't see what he had been working on.

Aro sat impatiently as Curtis got up to answer the knock at his Office door. After all these years of searching could it possibly be-

"Oh wow! Are these for me?"

The Volturi King froze in shock. That voice, he would recognise it anywhere. It was her! It was his Julie.

The cold, hard tyrant that his world came to know had melted away and his original, Ancient Greek nomad persona had been restored in his place. He felt alive again instead of the emotionless Zombie that he had become throughout his time alone without his mate. He found his hand raising to touch the screen of his monitor as a vision of Julie came into the Webcam's shot.

She was wearing a white, casual, spaghetti strap tank top and a pair of black leggings. Her hair was done up in a simple ponytail behind her head and although she looked ordinary to anyone who would have seen her, Aro thought she looked like a dream. The same kind, innocent face that he had fallen inlove with 3 millenia ago.

"Yes, I expect you to wear this every day-"

"Oh I will! I promise! Thank you so much, Mr Johnstone!" she was smiling at Curtis as she left the room and Aro was instantly jealous. That was _his_ smile! Not Curtis'. _His_!

As soon as Julie had evidently left the room and Curtis returned to his desk chair, Aro immediately rearranged his face back to the stony look of anger he had sported beforehand. This time he was staring at the other male as if he would like nothing more than to chop him up into little pieces.

"She is the one." Aro said before Curtis had a chance to speak, "You are to befriend her. You are now her servant and you will do everything you can to make her happy. If you dare make her upset in anyway, it's your head that rolls. Is that understood?"

Curtis jerked his head spitefully, "I understand."

"You will start the construction of the Time Machines now. Remember to use a the latest model of a Nissan Navara Dual Cab and a Toyota RAV4. I don't care which model you use for that one... just make sure it's white - do you think you can handle that?!"

Curtis once more nodded his head stiffly, "Yes."

"Good. I'll be visiting by the end of next year. I'll be watching you, Curtis."

* * *

><p><em><strong>22nd December, 2014<strong>_  
><em><strong>Midnight<strong>_

Aro was no idiot. He was far too paranoid about Julie's safety to allow Curtis to handle her on his own and so sent his minions to Australia to spy on his progress. They watched the girl's every move as well as Curtis'. Nothing was left up to chance.

Over the year and half that Julie was under Curtis' employment at NEO Tech, Aro was working on his own invention that would still give him control over the Time Machines. Again, he did not trust the Strategist in the slightest considering their history and so made sure he had a fail safe.

Meanwhile he learned all he could about his mate. Julie was born on August 1st, 1993 in Taybrook, Norwood's neighbouring town. She lived with her father up until his car accident involving another Nissan Navara Dual Cab, incidentally a '93 model. The same year she was born. As it would turn out, one of his Coven members were responsible for his death, smashing into him by accident as they tried to avoid a attempt on their life. It didn't take him much time to figure out that it was Curtis who tried to run his minion off, obviously fed up with the spies.

Yes, he really was asking for trouble. And when then was all over, he was going to get it.

Getting back to the subject at hand. Julie was a lonely individual. She had no friends and thankfully no boyfriend, despite Curtis' many attempts to pair her up with young men he knew in town. Another spiteful move designed to anger him no doubt, showing his rebellion to Aro's mastery over him. However he needn't worry, Julie always ended up single thanks to the mating bond they shared. It guaranteed failure of a attempted romantic connection with another.

You lose again, Curtis.

When the day finally came, Aro arrived in Australia late in the afternoon. A select few of his High ranking guard as his company. While he was waiting for his specially designed BMW to be unloaded from his Private Jet, he was made annoyed once more as Curtis failed to call him to confirm their arrangement. He knew why of course.

Curtis had grown attached to his mate and was now looking for ways to avoid going through with their plan.

Although Curtis was a gifted strategist and if he were anyone else, he would have bested him, Aro was too smart for that. He had been studying Curtis/Kurt all these years and pretty much knew him and his gift better than he knew himself. Treachery was within the Strategist's DNA and he could even predict when Curtis would act on this.

And people called him a control freak.

He sent his guards ahead, Caius would be arriving soon as well for extra back up. Aro could count on his brother to see everything to the end. He was instructed to keep Curtis busy while he herded Julie into the past.

It was midnight by the time Aro arrived in Norwood in his BMW, the twins; Jane and Alec were in the backseats. They were his favourite in the guard and the best protection he had available. Once Julie was back in his arms where she belonged, the twins would be his defense against Curtis.

Julie was in the RAV4 by the time he approached the NEO Tech building. As soon as he was close enough, his computer instantly and quietly networked it's self with the Slave Time Machine's harddrive. When she began driving away, it was then the transfer of information was complete and he had seen that Curtis had deliberately programed her time travel destination to one hour into the future.

Obviously Curtis had tried to double cross Aro, just like he had predicted. It was an obvious move to make him believe that his plan was working, giving Curtis enough time to send the Volturi on a wild goose chance. It was also possible that he wanted to make it look as those the experiment had failed and Julie had died.

That fool.

As they drove up onto the Highway, it was then Aro remotely reprogrammed the Slave Time Machine to the original destination of Ancient Greece, 1260BC. The reason he chose this particular point in time and location was because he had just learned to control himself around humans. Also the Romanian Coven was nowhere in sight, so the chance of her getting killed upon arrival was non-existent.

Furthermore, it was his first memory of Julie appearing in his life.

Just as the girl was picking up speed, he quickly sent out another command to the future version of the Slave Time Machine. This time reversing the destination to match it with his, thus overriding any previous command it had been programmed with.

Whose _the Strategist_ now?

As soon as he hit send, the future version of the RAV4, fresh from it's time in the first Ancient Rome appeared at once. It sped by his BMW on the other side of the Highway, coming to a halt just as the RAV4 of the present had disappeared into the night.

"Is that her, Master?" Jane asked quietly from the backseat as he slowly turned his vehicle around and headed straight towards the Toyota cruiser. He eventually told Jane and Alec who Julie was to him. They were after all one of the world wide search party for her a decade ago before he brought them back to his side. Their place was by his side.

"Let me just make sure, dear ones."

* * *

><p>Curtis blinked as he stared at the program data of the Slave Time Machine he had downloaded. Something was wrong, this wasn't what he programmed the RAV4 to do and it instantly hit him like lightening when he met the smirking face of Caius as he waltzed through the gates in his dark gray Volkswagen Amarok. Felix and Demetri were situated within the boot of the Ute, jumping out and planting themselves on either side of his Nissan threateningly.<p>

"You bastards."

"Oh stop. You're too kind." Caius sneered sarcastically with a wink, "You've had this coming for a long time."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: OMG, it's another chapter! xD

I thought you guys deserved speedier updates before the long weekend is over. To my fellow Aussies out there, HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY! -huggles;

Oh and don't worry, little miss fix-it is her way!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: What you see is what you get<strong>

Jane and Alec waited for their Master to return by the RAV4 and the BMW. Caius had been stationed to watch over Curtis who would have caught on that his version of Julie wasn't where he was hoping she would be. All this time travel nonsense had gotten the twins feeling confused and tired for a set of Vampires. They were used to seeing Aro so melancholy that seeing him looking the equivalent to optimistic as an insane Vampire could get, was exhausting. Of course, the twins adored their Master and saw him as a father figure, but it didn't stop them from getting annoyed with his frequently changing moods as of late.

They just hoped this 'Julie' human was worth all this running around.

It was then Alec cringed beside his sister and raised a hand to cover his nose. Jane was the next to notice but had the grace to not make it so obvious. Their Master had warned that Julie's scent would be delectable but this was just torture! She smelt of caramel tarts, warm maple syrup on waffles and sweet chocolate pudding, treats that made them almost miss being human. Almost.

The moment their Ancient King flitted into their line of sight, carrying the small, young lady in question, Jane nudged her brother. He immediately took his hand away from his nose and did his best to stand up straight and look composed. Jane busied herself by taking in their surroundings once more to be sure they weren't being followed.

Julie had buried her face into the cool crook between Aro's neck and shoulder while he lovingly nuzzled his nose into her cheek. Seeing their Master being so gentle and affectionate looked very alien to the twins and so weren't sure how to react to such a romantic scene. They knew him as the unbalanced, lonely ruler of their world, not this sappy Casanova looked to be on the verge of dry humping the female human in his arms.

Alec was now staring awkwardly at the ground while Jane pursed her lips together sourly at display. It was going to be a long trip back to Italy.

"Ah Jane, Alec... my dear ones. I have someone I would like for you to meet." Aro, although reluctantly, lowered Julie onto the ground before the twins who looked at her apprehensively. Well, more Jane than Alec who seemed incredibly shy all of the sudden and kept looking over at his older sibling for guidance. "Darling, this is Alec and Jane. They are my children and part of the guard."

Julie quickly turned her head to look up at Aro in shock, "Children?" Jane almost laughed at expression of panic and betrayal on the girl's face. Obviously she was thinking that Aro had cheated on her throughout these thousands of years he waited for her. Truth be told, if she were in Julie's shoes, she could have reacted the same way. For someone who claimed to love her, he was very disloyal.

"Adopted." Aro corrected, smirking adoringly down at his human Bride. Julie continued to stare up at him before she looked to conclude that this was the truth. Which it definitely was. Jane and Alec were as related to him as Julie was blue eyed and blonde. "Alec, Jane. Greet Julie the way we have been practicing."

And in unison, the twins inclined their heads respectfully. Jane cursied and Alec did a gentlemanly bow. Judging from the upsurge of Julie's scent, the girl had blushed from their performance. "Wow. They are very well behaved, aren't they?"

"Only the best for you, my love." he kissed her temple and she let out a watery whimper. Leaning into him weakly, "Come. We have much to do."

* * *

><p>All the while that Aro was driving them to Curtis' Mansion, Julie couldn't help feeling like she were sitting in a car with a stranger. Although he definitely appeared to be the same man she married in Ancient Greece, there was just something a bit off about him. It wasn't the fact that he was well groomed and spoke better English than she did now. It was nothing that superficial. It was his manner that she was taking issue with.<p>

Although he was affectionate and loving, the way a husband should be with his wife, there was something detached. Like trying to drive a car that had been written off but repaired, it looked the same but will never work properly again. She knew it was her fault though. She was stupid enough to get back into the RAV4 although Aro obviously didn't want her to.

Why didn't she listen to him?

As they pulled up into the driveway and parked before the steps, leading up into the entrance, Julie placed her hand upon Aro's lap. Aro looked over at her, his eyes had darkened a shade and very intense. So intense that it scared her slightly and her heart clenched in her chest, longing to see the sweet, softness that he used to look at her with in the past.

"I love you, Aro." she murmured, her voice cracking under the suffocating pressure of his gaze. Aro smiled at her, a smile that did not reach his eyes. The windows into a broken soul. Her heart shattered all over again at the sight of the calamity that her foolishness had caused.

"I love you, my Julie." she was sure he meant it but still didn't sound quite right. If he were a computer, an error message would be flashing at his screen. A file being corrupt or a piece of hardware that needed to be repaired. But it wasn't as simple as that, Aro was not a computer, he was a Vampire and all these years of being alone had effected him in a scarily negative way. She had seen it in the way Alec and Jane reacted to him when he spoke to them. There was no emotion of the 'fatherly' kind although he claimed them as his (adopted) children. They, in turn, looked at him as if they didn't have the faintest idea how to react. Like they were used to be being another way towards them, of something cold and menacing.

Julie threw herself at Aro, giving him the deepest, most passionate kiss she could muster. A kiss that she hoped would at least weave alittle bit of healing into his damaged psyche. He growled sensuously into the kiss, his arms snapping around to hold Julie by the waist and shove her savagely against his writhing body. Of course, she wasn't intending to start anything explicit...

"Master?" came Alec's nervous cough in the backseat, the goings on in the front obviously making him and his sister uncomfortable. Julie was just about to pull away when, as quick as lightening, Aro tore himself away from her mouth and began snarling at them.

"WHAT?!"

Julie was horrified to see such a display, and although she wasn't their mother and she had just met them, her maternal instincts kicked in. "Don't talk like that to the children!"

She was missing Curtis right now. Julie wasn't sure why because he was also to blame for this but at least, no matter how mad he got, he would never raise his voice to her. Which was exactly what Aro did.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" he growled defensively and Julie shrunk away from him at once. She pushed herself up against the passenger door of the front seat and stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. Like flicking a light switch, his furious insanity had gone as quickly as it had come and was replaced with a look of regret and tenderness, as if he had never been angry in the first place. "Mia amore... Forgive me, please. I didn't meant it... please..."

Julie took a sideways glance at the children in the back seat and although they also looked frightened, they also gave the impression that they were used it. They were gazing over at their 'father' expectantly, levitating towards him as soon as his voice had softened. However Julie remained pressed up against the car door, trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

"No." she rasped shakily, her entire body quivering in fear. "You did mean it. And you are right." Aro couldn't speak, he was shaking his head feverishly as he reached for her and again she flinched in response as she felt around for the door handle, "It is my fault... and so... I will be the one to fix it."

She got out of the car just as Aro had lunged forward, landing upon the seat she previously occupied and began to sob. He clawed at the luxury, upholstry, making claw marks in the material as he howled. The twins looked up at her from the backseats with analytical stares before the female twin also got out of the BMW and came to her side.

"Are you going back into the past?" she asked her hopefully and the moment these words came out of the blonde's mouth, Aro let out an objectionable shout. However he was immediately silenced the moment Jane turned and stared at him. His jaw locked and he began twisting and turning upon the front seats of his car in muted agony.

Julie was horrified at the display and made to take a step forward until a black mist slowly engulfed the adult Vampire. Alec soon emerged from the vehicle as soon as Aro lay limp on the front seats. "What have you done?" Julie breathed in dazed surprise as both children planted themselves infront of her.

"You protected us so we will protect you." Alec replied, the black mist continually floating forth from the palm of his hands. He had his back turned to her, focusing on his target that was his Master, "I'll keep him subdued. Sister, hurry back."

Jane immediately kissed her brother on the cheek with a nod before taking hold of Julie's hand and tugging her towards the RAV4. It was programmed to follow the BMW instead of the Dual Cab from now on and was parked only a small distance away.

"Wait! What did Alec mean by-"

"I'm coming with you, Mistress." Jane replied, cutting her off as she opened the doors and climbed into the front passenger seat. "You need protection incase the Romanians show up once you go back into the past."

"But-"

"That is what you are intending to do, isn't it? Go back into the past and change the future?" for a child, Jane sounded very mature and authoritive. Julie felt inferior in comparison, staring at the girl in awe before she nodded dumbly. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"But what happened back there? How-?"

"I will explain that later, Mistress!" Jane cut her off impatiently. Julie shook her head in protest.

"Just wait a moment, I want to get changed first. I-" she stopped herself, looking worriedly at the computer. Jane smirked up over at her as if reading her mind.

"I can't use the Time Machine without you. I'm not an authorised user."

* * *

><p>As soon as Julie had ran back out of the Mansion, in black leggings, a white tank top, a red plaid shirt and a pair on brown boots, it was then she and Jane made of with the RAV4. Alec remain by the BMW, continuing to somehow keep his Master immobilized.<p>

"The trouble is now, I'm not quite sure where and when to programmed this time machine to go. I know I was in the Ancient times but I don't know the exact time and date." Julie drove the vehicle up onto the highway once more.

"How about a travel history log, Mistress?" the blonde suggested thoughtfully, tapping at the screen trying to bring up said data for them to work off. "Shouldn't there be some way we can look at the records and find the time, date and location to which you were last in?"

"I hope so." Julie cruised along the Highway, at this time of night it was still deserted so they had the road to themselves. "Just one question though, why do you keep calling me 'Mistress'?"

"You are our Master's mate, are you not?" Jane replied, focusing on the computer screen, looking for the said file. "It is customary to call you the female equivalent to his title-"

"You don't have to call me that. Infact I give you my permission to stop calling me 'Mistress'."

"Then what shall I call you?"

"Just call me 'Julie'. Mistress makes me feel like I'm some sort of a Dominatrix." she chuckled softly and Jane smirked to herself, shaking her head as she continued to work away at the computer. As soon as Julie made a U-turn and stopped in a certain area of the Highway, it was then Jane made a noise of triumph.

"I think I found it, Julie." Jane brought up the history to which all times and destinations had been entered since the Time Machine began operation. "According to the 'flight data', you were last in the 'ITALIC REGION' aka 'ANCIENT ITALY', 'ROME I', 5th of August, 1260BC at 1:44pm."

Julie leaned over to take a closer look, amazed at what she just heard. Oh boy, she really didn't stand a chance.

And poor Aro.

"No wonder he went crazy." Julie whispered sadly, sitting back and shaking her head. She tried to think of herself in Aro's shoes and concluded that she would have gone insane too. To endure loneliness and a broken heart for that long. It was a terrible concept and only cemented her intention to at least make things alittle better. "Jane, sweetie, can you-?"

"Already on it, Julie." she watched as Jane reprogrammed the computer to take her straight back to the last point of displacement. However Julie reached forward and made a small adjustment.

"We'll make it half an hour after displacement." Julie had her reasons for this, one mainly being that she didn't exactly want to see Aro's severed head lying on the ground. From what Curtis had told her, a Vampire that had been torn to pieces but not burnt can still be put back together. She wanted to give Didyme and the others enough time to repair the damage to his poor body before she reappeared. She wouldn't have been much help anyway, she was a weak, little human after all.

She would be worse than useless.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16: A second chance.  
><strong>

"Have you ever been time traveling before?"

"No but naturally I've always wondered what it would be like."

"Well, you may want to brace yourself. It scared the crap out of me the first time I went through it."

"Nonsense. How bad could it be?"

Julie took a sideways glance at Jane and wondered briefly how old she had to be when she was transformed and if she would be this way after a couple of centuries as a Vampire. Existing thousands of years did terrible things to Aro's mentality. She doubted even her company would have made much of a difference to his state of mind. Going on for that long, she supposed would make people stir crazy, no matter how interesting a time you may have. You could be around long enough to see history repeating it's self like seeing a movie so many times that you can quote it word for word. Not only that but become sick and tired of the same thing, always looking at the same thing.

She recalled one of the more modern episodes of Doctor Who to which it was mentioned that the Master (portrayed by John Simm at the time) had taken his human wife, Lucy trillions of years into the future. The idea of it was disturbing enough but to actually live through it?

_'... there's no point. No point to anything. Not ever.'_

Thinking about such a concept was making Julie feel light headed.

She set the RAV4 in motion, bringing up the speed until an alarming sound came from the computer the moment the part where sparks were supposed to gather at the front of the vehicle. The car began to slow down and at this point, it was then Julie turned her head to exchange looks with Jane before glancing at the screen. It had another error message flashing pompously at the forefront of the travel data program.

**UNAUTHORISED USER DETECTED**

'If an unauthorised user is trying to operate the Slave, the Master can immobilize it via a NEO Tech satellite...'

"But I am an authorised user!" Julie protested in annoyance, tapping at the screen to get rid of this message but there was no 'Okay' button or anything else that she could see that would diminish the offending window. She scoffed in frustration before weening off the Highway to park the car on the side of the road. "Curtis can't have revoked access-"

"I wouldn't put it past him, Julie." Jane replied darkly, "However, Master Caius is supposed to be keeping an eye on him so I don't think-"

"How about Aro?"

"Impossible! No one can fight their way out of my brother's gift without him retracting it himself."

"That reminds me..." Julie began, resulting to restarting the system by pressing and holding the 'power' button until the computer turned it's self off before switching it back on again, "What happened back at Aro's car? One minute he was fine - well, as close to fine as he was ever going to be - the next he was-"

"That's my gift, Mis-Julie. I can make anyone I focus on feel the worst pain imaginable. I trick their mind with this illusion, a tactic frequently used for the purpose of submission." Jane smirked proudly at Julie who tried not to look at her. The disturbing feelings were back once more and she held back a creeped out quiver of her body, "My brother's gift is the opposite of mine. He can make you feel nothing. We have never used it on our Master before though. I will have to apologise when this is all over-"

"If it's ever going to be over... COME ON!" This time the computer wouldn't even log her in. Instead it came up with that irritating error message just before the log in screen was loaded. This time, Jane took the liberty of turning the computer off again for Julie, waiting for a moment or two, then turning it back on, "Why don't things ever work properly when you're in a hurry?"

"Is there anything I can do for you, Julie?" Jane offered helpfully, undoing her seatbelt and going for the door.

"Yes, I don't care what Aro or Caius have told you. I need for you to go get Curtis for me. He'll know what to do. He did invent this thing after all."

"Of course. I'll hurry!" and at that she climbed out of the vehicle, closed the door behind her and flitted off, leaving her human Mistress behind.

* * *

><p>"No, Jane! Absolutely not!"<p>

"Please Master! Julie can't-"

"Tell her to stay put. If she feels she is responsible for Aro's current mental state then the best thing she can do is to do nothing."

"But Master-!"

"Were you in the vehicle with her when this started to happen?" it was Curtis, speaking from within his Nissan Navara many metres away from the scene where Caius and Jane were conversing infront of his Amarok. He wasn't looking at them, instead working away on his computer. They were both at the black Dual Cab a second later, Jane nodding in response to his question, "It's the standard security protocol. Even if you are only a passenger in the Time Machine, the computer still needs to verify that you are cleared to be there. If you do not have clearance, the computer automatically assumes you have taken an authorised user hostage and are instructing them to operate the vehicle for you. To combat this, the Time Machine freezes all user accounts until the system administrator - also known as; yours truly - resets everything to perfect working order."

"No wonder turning it off then on again didn't work-"

"How many times?!" Curtis now looked extremely angry, snapping his head in Jane's direction and looking positively feral. "How many times have you restarted the computer?"

"What's it matter?"

"Because there is a limit to how many times you can do such a thing before the computer automatically sets the time machine to self destruct!"

This was followed by a very pregnant pause to which everyone was staring at Jane. She, herself looked like she was about to face the firing squad. "Twice." she choked out after what seemed like eternity, "The computer was restarted twice."

Everyone looked from Jane to Curtis, as if watching a tennis match. The Strategist himself didn't say a word, merely revving the engine and honking his horn to force everyone back and away from the Nissan Navara. Once he had enough room to move, he shot out of the NEO Tech parking lot, turned on the tracker and zeroed in on the location of the RAV4.

At this point, Curtis believed that maybe he was too paranoid of a Strategist, because after the third restart, the self destruct sequence was activated. Julie would have 30 seconds to exit the vehicle. If she failed to do so, at 20 seconds the RAV4 will lock her in, at 10 seconds the vehicle would surround it's self with an electric forcefield and of course, when the timer got to zero...

Well... let's just say a car wreck will not be the only thing that will be scraped up off the Highway.

Curtis could not abort the security measure remotely, he had to be physically there to cut the wires that connected the computer to the Uranium rich powered batteries that doubled as bombs under the bonnet. If he couldn't get to the car in time, he could reverse the polarity remotely so instead of the car being teleported the way it would during displacement, it would teleport the occupant to a randomized time and place.

Although Julie would live if he were forced to do this, he would not be able to bring her back because there was no way he could track where she was sent to. She could live and die a lonely death at any point in the future or the past.

Now the question was, which would be the more merciful fate?

* * *

><p>When the error message flashed up the second time she rebooted, Julie checked the time on the dashboard for a moment or two before shrugging her shoulders and restarting again. This time, another error message appeared right away the moment the screen turned back on. Julie had to read it three times over before she realised that it was saying.<p>

**SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE COMMENCED: 30 and counting down...**

Julie sucked in a shake breath, obviously not liking what she just read. Frantically she tried turning the computer off again but this time nothing happened, the timer continued to count down. By the time it hit 20, she finally tried the door handle but to her horror, she was locked in.

Again.

"NO!" She had been locked in the car twice and she didn't care for it the first time around. She heard beeping and raised her head from the handle to look out the window just in time to see the Nissan Navara pull up across the road from her. At 15, Curtis had appeared at her side, trying the door before going straight to the bonnet of the RAV4. He ripped the top off but before he could do whatever he needed to do, he was suddenly thrown back off the car by an invisble, electrical force. Infact he had many rings of electricity flowing up and down his body as he was thrown to the ground.

She screamed for him, pounding hard at the doors, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be angry with him. Julie never thought she would be more or less the same position again in less than a couple of hours. How did she manage to keep doing this to herself?

At ten seconds left, Curtis finally got back up just as Jane, Caius and two other male Vampires she wasn't familiar with arrive on the scene. While her Boss retreated to his Dual Cab, Caius and the others left theirs and headed straight for Julie. However, the moment they touched the cruiser, them too where thrown backwards to land several meters away.

She took a split second to admire how gracefully they all managed to land back on their feet before she realised that she was down to her last few seconds.

Her face fell upon realising this. She was going to die. Her last moment will be spent locked in a Toyota Time Machine. She regretted leaving her husband to attempt to go back into the past. She could have at least tried to make up for lost time and maybe then things could have become better.

Now she will never know.

There was one a scene in Doctor Who to which it was David Tennant's final moment as the Tenth Doctor. It was the part when he was about to regenerate into his 11th persona, then portrayed by Matt Smith. For someone who was only acting, he looked rather convincing for a man that was about to die and regenerate. So real his act that it made Julie cry.

At this moment, she felt that the last five words he spoke as the tenth Doctor were a perfect reflection on how she was feeling now. Not because she was a Doctor Who fan. Not because this was her idea of an epic set of last words. But because if she had a choice to avoid all this, to stay in the past instead of being dragged back into the present just to die, she would have said this...

_"I don't want to go."_

* * *

><p>The brightest of light erupted within the RAV4, engulfing the little human within it's confines and powerful enough to shatter every window of the vehicle. Out of all the light shows that these machines ever emitted, this was the most powerful. It not only whited out Norwood, but the entire state of New South Wales.<p>

The sound that came with it was deafening, blasting out a terrible white noise that could have shattered the heavens. The noise was like a microphone squealing as it was held far too close to it's speakers, but only far more intense.

It was radiating a power heat as well, like standing so close to a bush fire that one could practically feel the flames caressing their bare skin. As the light faded, there was circles upon circles of fire rings starting from the now dilapidated cruiser and stretching out toward the Vampires who had immediately retreated away from the melting wreck.

Curtis was the first to open his eyes and see the empty, metal shell of one of his greatest inventions. The modifications that was the time traveling hardware were now black, charred remains. All the doors had been blown off and now lying on the concrete road beneath the now bare rims of the wheels. The rubber of the burnt tyres now nothing but dark pools oozing down from the frame to form tar like puddles.

The only consolation to such a gruesome sight was that Curtis could not detect the slightest scent of burning human flesh or any stray droplets of blood. A small smile began to appear upon his Godlike face in triumph.

"She lives on."

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p>AN: And that's the end of part 1.

Should I write a part 2?

...

Just kidding! Of course I'm going to write a part 2! xD

Bride of Frankenstein Madame X: Oh yes, she is a quick one! Especially when she was so used to Aro being one way. Like gravity turning upside down on you. Even I was going WTF?! while I was writing this haha :D Thank you so much for all your reviews and your support! It was one of the reasons why I continued to write. Your enthusiasm and kind words are always appreciated.

Maalani: My brain hurts too xD Your implication is right though, I was never going to allow Julie to go back into the Ancient era... where's the fun in that? She's already been! What's done is done. If you think my brain hurts now... think how much agony I would be in by attempting to write a paradox! O.o haha Thank you for being a brilliantly loyal reader. Kudos to you, sweetie.

Insanity runs through my veins: -hugs for making you almost cry; Thanking you for all your encouragement! :D Caius is the bomb! He's going to have a more prominent role in part 2... just watch this space :D

Wolfstar04: Ooh! You'll just have to wait and see ;)

DevilsGamexxDevilsPain: You are too sweet! Thank you, poppet. Kudos! :D

Ellie Aluinn: Thank you! Lots of kudos for the love!

If I have missed anyone, I apologise profusely. I do love you all for your reviews and support! I hope to see you all again in part 2!


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